Today, on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. You see this? is the challenge of the harvest we Must share. Our faith.
Now, what do we do? Jesus tells us: first, pray for Christ's followers. to be sent into The harvest. Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's no question that politics and social and economic reforms all have their place.
But the Church of Jesus Christ is to be focused on the life-transforming message of the gospel. This is the challenge of the harvest. Today, we're looking closer at this challenge described by Jesus in the book of Matthew. Where do we start? Here's Pastor John Monroe to introduce today's message.
It's easy to be distracted from the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ. In these divided times, some pulpits appear to be increasingly devoted to promoting political candidates or pursuing social justice. The Lordship of Jesus Christ does cover every aspect of life. But the Church of Jesus Christ is about the gospel. The good news that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the scriptures.
As we continue to study the book of Matthew, we come today. to the challenge of the harvest. And what an abundance of opportunities. Yet we will learn. That the problem is not with the harvest, but with the scarcity of those who will go.
and make disciples of all the nations. If you have your Bible, I encourage you to turn to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew 9. Versus 35 Through Thirty eight. Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages.
teaching in their synagogues. and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, He had compassion for them. Because they were harassed.
and helpless Like sheep. Without a shepherd, Then he said to his disciples, The harvest is plentiful. But the labourers are few. Therefore, Pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest. to send out laborers into His harvest.
You get the picture? Jesus is the good shepherd. And he looks out at the crowds. And Matthew records here in verse 36, He had compassion. For them.
Why was that? They were harassed. They were helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd. Don't know where they're going, lost.
Can't find their way home. Helpless sheep, and as Jesus looks on them, he has compassion. for them. He's already said that we are to enter by the narrow gate. And they seize the crowds, and they are on that broad road which leads to destruction.
When you see people, when you see the crowds, perhaps at a football game. Masses of crowds gather together. Even when you look out. In your neighborhood you see people. Walking.
doing their business. Do you have have compassion for them? I mean, there's a Does it move you? to think that these are people without Christ John Milton and his famous Paradise Lost has a brilliant line. He says the hungry sheep look up and are not fed.
Hungry sheep, harassed sheep, helpless sheep. And there is no one to feed them. There is no one to tell them the life-changing message of the kingdom of God. You see this. is the challenge of the harvest.
Must share Our faith.
Now what do we do? Jesus tells us, first, pray. Pray for Christ's followers. to be sent into the harvest. Isn't that what Jesus says when he sees the crowds without a shepherd?
Verse 37. He says, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly. to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. The problem is not with a harvest.
The harvest, says Jesus, is plentiful. There are many, many sheep. It's not a problem with a harvest. I remember Uh as a little boy. 10, 11 years old.
where we lived. quite close to us, there was a farm of uh there was a Raspberry Farm. And I don't know if you've picked raspberries, but the farmer, we were told, was looking for people to pick his raspberries. And so my older brother, my younger brother, and I found ourselves. At the farm, and it became very obvious, listening to the farmer, that there were so many raspberries ready to be picked that he didn't have enough to harvest them.
And we could see them. These plump Raspberries. And they were swallowing. And they came, if you ever picked raspberries, you like them like that, just ready to be picked because they come so easy off the husk. If the raspberry is not ripe, it keeps sticking to the husk.
And the farmer doesn't want the husk. Uh he wants the fruit. And so we would come and with our little fingers pick these raspberries, put them into a basket and present them to the farmer and the more we picked, the more we got paid. The harvest It's plentiful. That's the picture.
The picture is of the farmer. looking out at his crop. And it is plentiful. It's abundant. Abundant raspberries.
Beautiful wheat as it were waiting to be harvested. Hold up. Problem is not with the harvest. Do you have a problem that you don't have enough people to share Christ with? Is there a problem that we don't have enough opportunities to tell people about Jesus Christ?
That's not the problem. Think of all the opportunities we have at Calvary Church to display and proclaim Jesus. Our first responsibility is to display Jesus. That as people look at us, as they get to know us, they see something of the love of Christ, something of the grace of Christ, something of the patience of Christ.
So you're at work, you're trying to impact your colleagues for Christ. How important it is that you're kind, that you're patient, that you're helpful. You're trying to reach your neighbors how important it is that they see that you are trying to love them as you love yourself. First, we display Christ, and then, as God gives us opportunities, we proclaim him, we tell people about them. And we can say the harvest.
It's plentiful. Do you know that hundreds, yes, hundreds of children, students, adults come onto our campus? How radio administrate the verdict? is having more and more stations. Here in the United States, Eastern Africa.
In my native Scotland. We have abundant, yes, abundant opportunities to go into the jails and prisons of North and South Carolina. We have the opportunity to bring the gospel to young women who are considering having an abortion. The harvest. It's plentiful.
I love living in Charlotte. I've never lived in a place so long as I've been. in Charlotte for now for almost 15 years. And one of the many reasons I love living in Charlotte is That we have people from all over the world.
Now I love southerners. Still trying to get used to grits and some other of their strange habits. I love southerners. No disrespect to them, but it's wonderful. That God in His grace, isn't it, brings people from all over the world right to our doorsteps.
And the vast majority of them have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I want to remind you. That our Lord Jesus Christ transcends all boundaries. Transcends all nations, all colors of skins, all ethnicities. That every single person, whoever you are, wherever they come from, Whether they look like you and sound like you, or whether they're completely different.
that every single one of them needs to hear about Jesus Christ. Christ. Sheep. without A shepherd. The harvest I find that tremendously exciting.
Could you imagine being in a community, a small community, which is never changing? Rather than a large community like Charlotte, which is growing, where people not just from Overseas, but throughout every state, people come here, people from Canada. You name it, they come here right to your doorstep.
Some of you live right next door to them. And God, in His grace, in His sovereign purposes, has brought this person to you. And I'm saying this is the challenge of the harvest. Do you see them? Do you see them?
Will you build bridges to them? You say, What do you mean, build a bridge? A personal connection. You see, I don't know what that is. God will give it to you.
Some bridge. to that person. To show them the love of Christ, to engage them at some level, to relate to them where they are. I read that between 80 and 90% of new converts are initially contacted within the context of their daily life. Do you hear that?
Most people come to Jesus Christ because they meet someone like you and me who lives their faith and tells our faith. Yes, people come to Christ through mass crusades, through radio, through television, to all kinds of ways, but most people come to saving faith through that personal. context, many of you came to Christ. Because someone Told you. about Jesus.
Will you reach out to them? Your family? That's a tough one, isn't it? A tough one. He said, Wow, they're They're resistant.
Reach out to them. And they put that person at work. That colleague, perhaps that colleague that you find a little difficult, that boss who seems to be inflexible. The person you just meet casually, pray. What Jesus is saying is this: so important.
The problem is not with the harvest. Do not blame the harvest. Do not say, I don't have enough opportunities to tell people about Jesus Christ. There is an abundant harvest, a plentiful harvest. But there's a problem.
Notice what Jesus says, verse 37. The harvest is plentiful, but here's the problem: the laborers are few. Yes, there are many enthusiastic followers of Jesus Christ going into the harvest. I trust that many of you are doing that, but many of us are not. We're muted.
We saw last week the man who was mute, that's what the devil does. He tries to stop us. He tries to silence us. He tries to create fear within us. He tries to say, well, that's for someone else.
We need to be mobilized. We must meet the challenge which God is bringing to us. Where do we start? What do I begin to do? Do I need to be part of a committee?
Do we need to strategize? Take a course on evangelism. All of these things are important. All of these things have their place. The first thing, however, Jesus says is pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.
I was challenged when I was studying this. Pray. earnestly to the Lord. of the harvest. This is not just praying.
Uh for people from church. To go out overseas missions. We do pray for that, and it's our joy when, particularly, when people within our own community, Are called by God and they're thrust out into the harvest. That's a great prayer, but Jesus is thinking of something else. Pray.
For yourself. Pray that each one of us who is an authentic follower of Jesus Christ. We tell others. About I'm asking you. Jesus is asking you to pray earnestly.
Will you do that? Will you pray earnestly that the Lord of the harvest will send out laborers into his harvest? Harvest. Pray. Turn to Colossians chapter 4.
uh where we see Paul really saying the same thing. And I think is in a very helpful passage as we think of going into the harvest. Colossians 4. Verse 2, he's talking to new believers now. Probably Most of them have less.
biblical knowledge, theological knowledge than you have.
So an early church Notice what he says. Colossians 4:2, continue steadfastly in prayer. being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us. That God may open the door to us, for the door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ.
on account of which I am in prison. that I may make it clear which is how I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious. Seasoned with salt.
so that you may know how you ought to answer each. Person. Isn't it interesting? Paul is asking. for prayer that God will open a door.
For the word to declare the mystery of Christ. Are you praying? For new doors to reopen. You say, I'm not quite sure where I begin here. Yes, I've spoken to my family, had the word with my neighbor.
I'm not sure how to proceed. Pray that God will open the door. Just think of it: what new doors. Is God opening for us in your neighborhood? That neighbor that seems totally unreachable.
Pray that God will open the door for that person. Pray that God will open a door for you in your sphere of influence, your family, your friends, your work. All of us contact people. Pray that the door will be opened and pray for new ways of penetrating and engaging the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice Paul says, verse 5: Walk in wisdom toward outsiders.
That's the unbeliever, that's the sheep that's harassed. Wise. Be wise.
Sometimes, as followers of Jesus, we're not wise. We shout. We protest. We're angry. Don't do that.
Walk in wisdom. Pray for God to give you wisdom as you try and reach that person. Perhaps you've You got a brother or sister that lives on the other end of the World, and you have to call them, or you have to email them. Pray for wisdom before you do that, that God would give you the right words. Be wise.
Respect to the integrity of each individual. Remember, you're talking not to a project. Not to tick a little box. Not to boast of how many people you spoke to. Think of that person.
An individual for whom Christ died. Walk in wisdom toward outsiders. What is wisdom? Skill in living. Be skilled at this.
That's why we need God's help. And notice that our speech should always be Gracious, verse 6. Did you get that? Seasoned with salt.
So that you may know how you ought to answer each. Person. No, this is not just one, two, three, four that I mechanically repeat as I contact this person, I build a bridge to this person. I've got a beginning of a friendship, there's some mutual respect. I'm beginning to develop a friendship with this person.
And then I need gracious speech. How do I contact, how do I communicate to this person? You see the Lord with Nicodemus. Very different approach to the woman, the Samaritan woman, the immoral woman in John chapter 4. Our Lord Jesus, of course.
is perfect wisdom. He always met people at their point of need.
Now he knew their hearts, we don't. But that's the goal, isn't it? that we would meet the person At their point. Update. Walk in wisdom.
have speech seasoned with salt, and pray that doors will open. Notice that there's a door for the word. It's not just for a door to be kind to people. We certainly must be kind. It's not just a door for social change, although that may well be necessary.
It's a door for the word, it's a door for the gospel. This is our priority, the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the message entrusted to us. And Jesus is saying, pray. Pray.
Pray for the Christ for Christ followers. to be sent into the harvest. But don't only pray. Secondly, Goal. Depending.
on Jesus King Jesus alone. Verses 1 through 8 of chapter 10. You got your Bibles there? Matthew chapter 10, verse 1. And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out, to heal every disease and every affliction.
The names of the twelve apostles are these. First, Simon, who's called Peter. Andrew his brother, James the son of Zebedee, John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus and Thaddeus, Simon the zealot, and Judas Iscariot. Who betrayed him? These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them: Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
and proclaim as you go, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying, give without. Pig. First, As I look at the harvest, I'm to pray.
Secondly, I'm to go. And I'm to go depending on King Jesus Christ. Alone. I'm to go by faith. No.
And we see in these verses, verse 1. that Jesus called to him the twelve. It is Jesus who does the calling. They didn't volunteer. Jesus called them.
We've thought of their calling. More recently, we thought of the call of Matthew. Jesus chose the twelve disciples. Follow. Me.
And as we go. Isn't that wonderful? when people then hear the call. of Jesus. These disciples have been called by Jesus.
They've spent time with Jesus. They've listened to his words. They've sat on the hillside listening to his teaching on the Sermon on the Mount. They've spent time with him. They've witnessed his miracles like the calming of the sea.
And now, he's saying now I've called you, I've trained you, equipped you, you've seen me in action.
Now you've to go out and proclaim. The gospel. of the kingdom of heaven. They had spent time with Jesus. Oswald Sanders says, We slander God.
by our very eagerness to work for him. Without knowing him. As we're talking about going and sharing our faith, I have to pause. And ask you. Do you know Christ?
I mean a personal relationship with Christ. I I know you know about Jesus Christ. But the gospel is knowing Christ. Is having a relationship with Christ. And Saunders is so right.
Sometimes. People want to serve, that's good. But first, We must know Christ as our Lord and our Savior to be saved by His grace and have spent time listening to Him. And can I say as we go? As we go sharing our faith, as we're being alive, it is essential That we never ever neglect our time listening to Jesus.
Yes, we do that. from this pulpit? We do that in our life groups. We do that in our Bible studies. But you Whoever you are, You must spend time.
Every day in this book. This is the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. But to find truth and certainty about who we are, and find peace, we find We must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God.
To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity. Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world.
And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website. Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road.
If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe.
Well, what's your verdict? When you see people on the street, do you have compassion for them? Do you have compassion for individuals whom the Lord brings into your life? Do you pray? That Jesus will use you to bring the good news to others, or are you so focused on yourself?
that your heart has become hardened. It's so easy to be like that, isn't it? Pray today. that the Lord will use you. tell someone about her.
Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
