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July 7, 2004 - Matthew 9:35-38 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Look around you brothers and sisters today and tell me what you see in the world. Are there not multitudes and multitudes of people like sheep scattered toward the four winds? Why? Because they are without a shepherd! I tell you the majority of this generation has been raised without a right knowledge of GOD and salvation and they have no true sense of direction. They are running from the east and to the west looking for peace and finding none. They are looking for joy and fulfillment out in the world, but it’s not there. Many think that true happiness comes from material wealth, and great gain is godliness; but I tell you friends when you receive the true peace of GOD into your hearts you will be content with such things that you have. Laboring 60 hours a week to make an extra-dollar so that you can get ahead is not the path to fulfillment! Jesus said, Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Others have been raised up in the fantasy world at home, and when they enter the real world they can’t handle reality; they want to break away from ‘real life’, so they turn to alcohol or drugs; and they rejoice in the stupor it brings upon their minds. They attempt to dumb themselves down so that they won’t have to think upon their problems, but their problems have not gone away, but they have increased. I tell you friends the bible is true, and it says the way of the transgressor is hard. One of the most evil plagues in this world today is the plague of dope addiction. The sorcerer demon is having a field day with this generation. This generation that was raised in front of a Television set, raised with "Disney Land", fantasy, fiction, and un-reality; their minds are ripe for him. The bible says that all nations would be deceived by sorceries (Pharmaceuticals). God tells us to think on the things that are true and honest and pure; but parents now raise their kids to think upon the false, the lies and the corrupt. Not only the drug demon but the fornication demon is reigning over most of the world. This generation has been raised up not to have respect for their bodies and their souls. The sanctity of the marriage is despised and mocked. Lust has replaced love. In the music, magazines, the billboards, the commercials, television and movies women are portrayed as objects instead of people, fornication is glorified; but I tell you friends you will not find any peace in it. You will not find any fulfillment in it. It takes away your peace of mind, it destroys your self-esteem and its way leads down to hell. FAINTING UNDER THE LOAD And just as the people were faint there in Matthew 9, there is no rest for the wicked today and people are fainting under their burden of sin. The heaviest burden a man can ever carry is his load of sin. It weighs down the heart so. I remember when I was saved, I felt a great weight just lift off of my shoulders. It was a weight I didn’t realize I carried, a weight of sin and guilt. Suicide is rampant, death by drug over-dose is rampant, sexually transmitted disease is rampant, divorce and abortion is rampant. The children of this generation are crying and their dying in sin. Many are looking for away of escape but they don’t know which way to turn. They need a Shepherd, they need THE Shepherd to lift their burden, to cleanse them of their sin, to fill them with love, joy and peace. To put purpose in their lives. COMPASSION FOR THE LOST Matthew 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. We serve a compassionate Savior my friends. When he saw the multitude faint and scattered he had compassion on them. And when he looks down at this generation he has compassion. He loves the sinners, he died for the sinners. He is the good shepherd, he is the same Shepherd that looked over Jerusalem, that city that rejected him, that lead him to be crucified and wept over it "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem". Jesus is still the one who is willing to heal the leper, he is willing to free those in bondage, he is willing to take his children in his arms and bless them. This Compassionate Savior is the same yesterday, today and forever more! LABORERS ARE FEW Matthew 9:37-38 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. The Savior tells us today that the harvest is plenty but the laborers are few. The earth is ready to be reaped, but the reapers are few and the few are slothful. When Jesus walked this earth he had compassion on the lost, and he went about preaching the kingdom of God and healing the sick and doing all manner of good. But then he ascended back to heaven, and he looks at us and he tells us to go into the fields, and continue the work. "Go and help me find my lost sheep"! Go and preach the gospel to every creature and whosoever believes and is baptized shall be saved! Go and compel the lost to come into my house so that it may be full. Go and lift me up to this lost and dying world so that I can draw them to me. Go and speak my word, so that they can hear, so that they can believe, so that they should be saved! What are we laboring for? John 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. What are you laboring for? Where do most of your efforts go? Does it go into serving God and prospering his kingdom? Or does it go to the flesh? Friends you are a vessel, and like a cup you can only hold so much. If you are filled to the rim with the cares of this life, then there will be no room for the works of the Lord. You can not give more 100%. Are you seeking the kingdom of GOD and his righteousness? HOLY SPIRIT -COMPASSION FOR THE LOST Do you have compassion for the lost like Jesus had? Do you have a burden for souls? Is your greatest desire to see souls saved? To Lead them to the kingdom of GOD? Jesus was filled with the Spirit of his Father, God had given him the Spirit without measure, and he was sealed with it. If you want to know how a spirit-filled person behaves look at Jesus. Jesus had compassion for the lost, he was self-sacrificing, his greatest desire was to lead people to eternal life. Look at John the Baptist, the prophets, the Apostles, they all were Spirit filled and they worked to share the word of GOD with people. If you don’t have compassion for the lost, if you don’t have a burden for souls, then you need more of God in your life. You need more of the Spirit of Christ in your heart. You need to seek the face of GOD and draw nigh to him; asking him to remove from your heart and life all that hinders you from having the fulness of his Spirit. I tell you friends, a person that is ‘on fire for God’, a person that has the zeal of the Lord works to lead people to Christ. WHY STAND YE IDLE? Matthew 20:6-7 And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. My friends the eleventh hour is upon us, soon the darkness will be here and we will not be able to work, and I must ask, why are so many of us idle? The Father is calling us to work in his vineyard, the harvest is ripe and we have not much time. Oh how sad it will be when the multitudes who are in the valley of decisions begin to cry: "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." Jeremiah 8:20. When the door of mercy is finally shut and we realize that we did not do all that we were capable of doing, will you not be ashamed? You may say that I am not a preacher! But if you are a child of GOD then you are to preach, that is you are to share the good news of the gospel to the lost. You may not be called to stand behind a pulpit, but you are called to go out into the field and share Jesus. You are called to go out into the highways and bi-ways and compel people to come out to the house of the Lord. How many sinners have you invited out to church this week?
You are called to live a holy, sanctified life so people can look at you and tell there is a difference. In you they should see Jesus. You are called to spend much time in prayer, lifting up the lost to the Lord, and lifting up your brothers and sisters so they can be strong and bold for the Lord. My friends we are to be about the Father’s business. HOW ARE WE TO WORK? Colossians 1:27-29 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. My friend you can go out and labor under your own power, and it will be like you’re fighting the air, you will not accomplish anything. Or you can go out and strive according to the working of Christ in you. You can go out under your own power, or you can go in the power of GOD. But I tell you friends if you want your ministry to be fruitful you must work with the holy Spirit. If the Apostles had to wait until they were endued with power from on high to begin their ministry, so must you. Jesus said, "without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5) but we are then told, " I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."(Philippians 4:13) CONVERSION IS SUPERNATURAL John 3:5-8 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. True conversion is a supernatural act wrought upon the heart by the Spirit of God. If the Spirit is not working then there can be no true conversion. My friends we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit for everything in our Christian lives. Before a man can even come to Christ, he has to be drawn by the Spirit. Before a man can be saved, the Spirit must change his heart. Before a man can know Christ, Christ must come to dwell in him through the Spirit. Before a man can have the victory, he must let the holy Spirit live through him. Before a man can successfully preach the gospel he must be anointed with the Spirit. Before a singer can move the hearts of the lost with their song, they must sing with the Spirit. Before a prayer can have any power, it must be prayed with the Spirit. Paul tells the Christian to "LIVE and WALK in the Spirit" (Galatians 5:25). If you want your life to be pleasing to GOD, and a witness for Christ, then you must live and walk in the Spirit. YOUR REWARD 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 3:8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. The bible tells us that we should be ‘abounding’ in the work of the Lord, that is we should always be occupied with it, and excel at it; because there is no better thing to be occupied with. You may spend 40 or 50 hours a week at your job, and it profits you for a time. But I tell the labor you do for the Lord will prosper you for eternity. The work you do for Jesus is never in vain, and there is a reward. What greater reward could there be than to see a soul saved from the fires of hell? Or one day be in the Kingdom of heaven, and have a person come to you and thank you for sharing a word, or praying that prayer, or singing that song or sharing that tract, which help lead to their salvation? WORKS TRIED BY FIRE 1st Corinthians 3:11-15 ¶ For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Everything you see now is going to be destroyed. Everything you see is temporary. We humans work so hard for the physical things. For the cars, the trucks, the nice home, the boat, the fancy clothes, but mark my words, these things are temporary. Now CHRISTIAN wouldn’t it be dreadful, At the end of the way you find yourself standing before your God, and the majority of the fruit of your labors are ashes under your feet? Oh you slothful servant. The only labor that will stand, is the labor you do for the Lord. The only treasure that will stand is that which you place in heaven. Will you go into eternity Christian with many crowns upon your head, with the words "good and faithful servant" ringing in your ears; or will you go in with the smell of smoke upon you. It is up to you Christian, you can start today seeking the face of GOD, seeking to be filled with his Spirit. Your works will go up in smoke except you work with the Spirit. And dear sinner, today the holy Spirit is in this place; Christ is striving with your heart. He has died for your sins, was buried and then raised from the dead on the third day, and now at the right hand of GOD, he strives with the hearts of those who are lost. Today he knocks, he wishes to come in, and to save you. Will you have Jesus today? I tell you dear sinner, if you die without him, the smell of smoke will be the least of your worries. Will you not take him today? Brother Martin |