“Then
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
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 for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having
no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, The harvest truly is plentiful, but
the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out
laborers into His harvest." Matthew 9:35-38 NKJV
“Then
Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting
places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their
bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So
confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. What a huge
harvest! he said to his disciples. How few workers! On your knees and pray for
harvest hands!" Matt. 9:35-38 MSG
The
first question is, if you are of Christ, as you are going about, what are you
doing? As Christ gives you access to people, places, what are you doing? Jesus
went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. So you
should be seen as doing what Jesus went about doing because it is what you are
doing as you go about that tells who you really are. Where people are
pursuing Christ, you will see peace amongst them. Let’s be reminded that what
brings joy to heaven is not when you bought a car or built a house, it is when
a sinner gets saved. One way to measure your spiritual state is how you feel
and what you do when you see others who are not born again. The multitudes
Jesus saw during His time cannot be measured with our time -the number is
nothing compared to what we have now. Jesus didn’t say to pray for “members”,
He said LABOURERS because members come to watch, labourers come to work.
What
is this labour and what is the harvest all about?
Jesus
told His disciples to pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into
the harvest. This is the prayer point of Jesus expressing the heartbeat of the
Father. Jesus was simply saying the disciples should pray because without them,
He cannot do what He ought to do concerning the harvest. There must be harvest
hands.
The
harvest is all about. SOULS. “On your knees, pray for harvest hands". There are
some who do not even bother about this heartbeat of the Father, for others, it
was a bother, they started but possibly stopped along the way. The truth is two
cannot walk together except there is an agreement. You must ensure that all
those you truly love are saved. Anyone who is not born again will go to hell;
self-righteousness will not take anyone to heaven. As disciples of Jesus,
in order to bring in the harvest, we must have compassion, but the church in
our day lacks compassion. When you are moved with compassion, you will not need
human intervention and you can’t be stopped until that vision is accomplished.
If the church does not have compassion, it cannot make an impact (Jude
22).
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. Jesus has not come
because His desire is that all men will be saved and He is not willing
that any should perish. To accomplish this task, LABOURERS must arise.
The harvest is all about SOULS-turning men from darkness to light, from the
power of satan to the power of God.
The
need for the hour is LABOURERS. To send forth means to ENVISION and EMPOWER men
for the harvest. That empowerment means when you feel intimidated and
threatened, you would be bold and stand for the harvest. When men who are
envisioned and empowered go into the harvest, they reap out proper souls/fruit.
The reason Jesus left us here with breath in us, kept us alive and has given
us strength is so that souls will be won to the Kingdom of God. You do not beg
labourers to work; they go looking for work, that’s how they are sustained, it
is their livelihood. They make themselves available to work. They are available
to work, not coerced or cajoled. All they need to do the work is simply to give
them the platform.
A lot
of us believers have still not seen our work for God like that. We give
Him our leftovers (of time, resources, strength...)
There
is a definite day and time a man gets saved. Make sure your children are
saved. That they grew up in church, does not mean they are saved. It is
alright to ask your child over and over again if he/she is born again and they
must answer until it gets to such a time whereby it truly dawns on them in whom
they have believed.
A man
is only saved through Jesus. Thus it is not a title, denomination that
saves a man but JESUS. Romans 10:1-9, 10-15.
The
LABOURERS primarily functions in three categories and we can function in all
the three.
1.
PRAYING LABOURERS
2.
PAYING LABOURERS
3.
PREACHING LABOURERS
The
enemy’s goal is to wear us out so we would not be able to fulfill these three.
PRAYING
LABOURERS. Praying comes first. There will be no power, or resources released
if we do not pray. If we do not pray, nothing will happen. Praying labourers
are men who have come to the point where praying is now their lifestyle. They
enjoy praying, they’ve become prayer addicts. When you are a praying
labourer, you cannot be too rigid to pray. When the Apostles stayed in the
upper room waiting for the coming of the Holy Ghost, praying was not a burden
for them; they were together in one accord. Those who believed in Jesus were of
one accord. They were a praying people birthing a prayer people “… they
continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking
of bread and prayers”. When you are convinced, it’s not easy to walk out of
anything.
Jesus
told a parable about the dubious servant who stayed true to what he believed.
Here, Jesus was saying that in spite of his dubiousness and though he was going
to lose his job, he stayed true to it. (Luke 16:1-13) The result is not
a determinant of the actions of these sets of people but their commitment. The
response of praying labourers is prayer and the centre of their prayer is the
heartbeat of God. The reasons we do not see miracles happening much in our day
is because we do not have praying labourers. A praying labourer is not forced
or cajoled but rather it is his/her lifestyle to pray. We pray prayers that
make it look like God is irresponsible. When the Apostles were threatened and
beaten on account of their preaching, that did not deter them because when they
gathered together, their prayer points still centred on God giving them
boldness to preach the gospel. Acts 4:24-30.
PAYING
LABOURER. The most expensive venture on the surface of the earth is the
advancement of the gospel. The devil knows this, thus he tries all he can to
hinder and stop people from giving to the work of God. A giving labourer is
glad giving to the work of God because therein, he finds fulfillment. Paying
labourers give with simplicity expecting no recognition. A lot of people
believe money is needed for everything except the gospel. Paying labourers see
giving as their LIFE’S MISSION and they give willingly without being compelled,
cajoled or coerced. After Jesus resurrected from the dead, the Pharisees paid
much money to the guards to lie that Jesus’ disciples came to steal His body at
night. If this can be done to hinder the spread of the truth how much more do
you think is needed for the spread of the gospel? When the Holy Ghost is moving
upon our hearts, everyone will know by the Spirit what is expected of them. One key sign that you are a genuine believer is that you do not regard
whatever you do as your covenant responsibility as an achievement but a
covenant obligation. True
believers respond to every covenant obligation willingly.
Paying
labourers always want to do more. When a man genuinely encounters Jesus, he
will be committed to giving as he has proposed in his heart.
The
people who brought money for the gospel’s sake were not cajoled, coerced or
forced. They did what they did wilfully and willingly. (Acts 2:42-45, 4:32-35)
Giving is not about how much you have, it is about vision and commitment. (2 Cor.
9:6-7) We can only make out time and give money to what we believe in. The
wealth transfer we talk about is not for all but for paying labourers who have
the heart and who are properly positioned.
If
the gospel will be preached and men saved, paying labourers must rise to take
their place for these to be done.
