LABORERS FOR THE LORD GOD

PROCLAMATION

“Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask The Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”  Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to the Apostle Matthew.  After He had calmed the storm and the boat had crossed over the lake, Jesus continued to heal the sick. (Matthew 9:1-8)  He raised the synagogue leader’s dead daughter (Matthew 9:18-26) and He healed the woman who had an issue of blood for twelve years. (Matthew 9:20-22)  He gave sight to two blind men. (Matthew 9:27-31)  He also cast out the demon from a demon-possessed man who could not talk and the man spoke. (Matthew 9:32-33)  After this, Jesus, The Christ, went through all the towns and villages, teaching in the synagogues, and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the multitudes that needed help, He had compassion on them and He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.  Pray ye therefore The Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38 KJV)

APPLICATION

There is plenty of work to be done while working for The Lord.  The question is, are we willing to work for God?  Jesus, The Christ, told His disciples to pray that God would send workers to help harvest the lost souls, then He sent them out to help the people. (Matthew 10:1)  Today, we are the disciples, the students of The Lord God.  We need to pray for the lost, but then we also need to be willing to help them and to tell them about Christ and salvation.  While preachers are to do this, there is also work for the lay men and women to use their time, talents, and treasures in service for The Lord God.  There is something for everyone in the church to do.  No one can tell your story, about what The Lord has done for you, better than you can.  Tell It!  We talk to a number of people daily, tell them about The Lord God.

LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU

Proclamation:

“A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”  John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, and recorded by the Apostle John under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this chapter, John records the events surrounding the last meal that Jesus had with His disciples before His crucifixion, including Jesus washing their feet, (John 13:4-12) His explanation for doing it, (John 13:12-20) His identification of His betrayer, (John 13:21-27) and His giving them a new commandment telling them to love one another as He loved them. (John 13:34-35)

Application:

As Christians we believe in the birth, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, The Christ.  We also know that we are to share the gospel with others.  However, in order for us to effectively spread The Word of God, we must live it.  People will know that we belong to Christ if we demonstrate our love for one another.  To them our actions speak much louder than our words.  If we do not act Christ-like, we may, in fact, turn people away from being a Christian.  Not only are we to love those who love us, we are to love all believers.  We should be very careful regarding how we treat our Christian brothers and sisters.  Our bad behavior towards one another weakens the church and ruins our effectiveness in promoting the gospel and saving the lost.  The unsaved people of the world will judge us, and all Christians, by what they see in us and by how we treat each other.

WE NEED TO LOVE MORE

Proclamation:

"A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another."  John 13:34-35 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, as He spoke to His disciples, as recorded by the Apostle John, the disciple who referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another.  He said that the world would know that they were His disciples by the way they spoke to, treated, and behaved with one another.

Application:

As believers we have hope, and we have faith, but what we need is more love.  We do not need more love from God, He has already proven His love for us. (John 3:16 and Romans 5:8)  We need to love each other more than we do.  We need to demonstrate our love for one another more often.  We need to perform more random acts of kindness towards others, without expecting to receive anything in return. (Luke 14:13-14)  God is love. (1 John 4:8 and 4:16)  Since God dwells within us, we should exhibit His love in our actions towards others.  The world needs more love, and it should begin with those of us who believe.  We must act Christ-like and demonstrate examples to the world regarding how they should behave.  In the end, we will be judged first, judged on how well we followed The Lord's commands.  Judgment will begin with those of us in The Church. (1 Peter 4:17)  Let us live up to our titles, “Christian”, “Believer”, “Child of God”, and let us demonstrate a Christ-like love for one another.  The world needs more love and we are the agents of love.