1 00:00:03,360 --> 00:00:06,040 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,080 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:13,080 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us, 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:17,360 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org, or just look 5 00:00:17,360 --> 00:00:19,800 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:28,240 We are in the book of Matthew and Chapter #9 this morning as 8 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:32,040 we continue our series forward-looking at moving 9 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,400 forward in our service. And that, again, is not 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:40,000 necessarily in how we serve our church, although that is a 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,350 component of it. But going deeper in looking at 12 00:00:43,350 --> 00:00:47,510 how we serve the Lord and how God calls us to be servants, not 13 00:00:47,510 --> 00:00:50,830 just to this church, but to this world and how God has just 14 00:00:50,830 --> 00:00:54,990 called us to be servants really in any capacity, in anything 15 00:00:55,190 --> 00:00:57,830 that we do. You know, if you go around just 16 00:00:57,830 --> 00:01:00,550 about anywhere right now, you're going to see signs outside of 17 00:01:00,550 --> 00:01:02,910 businesses that say this help wanted. 18 00:01:03,270 --> 00:01:07,550 Almost everywhere right now is looking for someone to apply and 19 00:01:07,550 --> 00:01:11,500 looking for someone to. Work at that establishment. 20 00:01:11,500 --> 00:01:12,820 There's a lot of different reasons for that. 21 00:01:12,820 --> 00:01:16,140 You didn't come here today to hear me talk and to opine about 22 00:01:16,140 --> 00:01:17,940 those kind of issues. No doubt. 23 00:01:18,180 --> 00:01:23,100 However, we would all agree that you don't have to go very far to 24 00:01:23,140 --> 00:01:25,380 see one of these help wanted signs. 25 00:01:25,380 --> 00:01:27,980 And in fact, I was just at a couple different places just 26 00:01:27,980 --> 00:01:32,060 this last week that had reduced hours or had reduced the 27 00:01:32,060 --> 00:01:36,420 services that they offer because they didn't have enough help to 28 00:01:36,420 --> 00:01:39,020 be able to run the establishment in the way that it. 29 00:01:39,430 --> 00:01:43,790 Typically would run, you know, hours lesson at a restaurant or 30 00:01:43,790 --> 00:01:47,670 maybe even a whole day that the restaurant is no longer opened 31 00:01:47,670 --> 00:01:49,910 or perhaps there was something that was offered. 32 00:01:49,910 --> 00:01:54,550 For free at a clothing store that now is no longer offered 33 00:01:54,550 --> 00:01:56,990 because they just don't have the help to be able to do what they 34 00:01:56,990 --> 00:01:59,950 normally would do in the past. And you know, when you're 35 00:01:59,950 --> 00:02:01,990 talking about restaurants and when you're talking about 36 00:02:02,550 --> 00:02:04,990 businesses of those kinds of natures, I'm not saying those 37 00:02:04,990 --> 00:02:07,070 things aren't important in and of themselves. 38 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:11,440 But we see that when there's help that's wanted but no one 39 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:15,040 applies in those areas, it's not a great thing. 40 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,320 But in many ways, life moves on. Except for, of course, the 41 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,240 people that own those businesses. 42 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,120 That's their lifeblood in so many ways. 43 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:27,560 But consider this today. We could also say the same thing 44 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,480 about churches, couldn't we? That there are churches that 45 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:33,720 have closed, There are churches that have reduced. 46 00:02:34,110 --> 00:02:35,910 What they're able to do, and I'm not talking about Liberty 47 00:02:35,910 --> 00:02:37,430 Baptist Church. I'm just talking about maybe 48 00:02:37,430 --> 00:02:40,710 under the broad umbrella that we would call Christianity Today, 49 00:02:40,950 --> 00:02:44,030 that there are so many places that used to be able to do so 50 00:02:44,030 --> 00:02:46,310 many things. There's so many churches that 51 00:02:46,430 --> 00:02:49,030 used to be open. In fact, churches are closing 52 00:02:49,030 --> 00:02:52,070 faster than they're opening here in the United States of America 53 00:02:52,070 --> 00:02:54,710 today. There's so many places that need 54 00:02:54,710 --> 00:02:57,190 help, and there's so many places that need services. 55 00:02:57,350 --> 00:03:00,230 But there are churches. Christianity is not able to 56 00:03:00,230 --> 00:03:02,510 offer that which God has called us to. 57 00:03:02,850 --> 00:03:05,650 And the reason why is not because the problem doesn't 58 00:03:05,650 --> 00:03:07,610 exist. I mean, listen, there are people 59 00:03:07,610 --> 00:03:09,930 who need help, maybe even more than ever. 60 00:03:11,090 --> 00:03:16,410 But yet maybe the issue is this help wanted that Jesus Christ 61 00:03:16,410 --> 00:03:21,210 has called us to be the servants that we need to be, and we must 62 00:03:21,210 --> 00:03:25,010 respond to that call. And Jesus talks about that here 63 00:03:25,250 --> 00:03:27,170 in Matthew Chapter 9. If you're able, would you please 64 00:03:27,170 --> 00:03:28,530 stand for the reading of the word of God? 65 00:03:28,530 --> 00:03:30,610 Matthew Chapter 9? And we're going to be in reading 66 00:03:30,610 --> 00:03:32,210 verse #32, and we're going to read it. 67 00:03:32,490 --> 00:03:34,930 What may be a very familiar passage of Scripture to you this 68 00:03:34,930 --> 00:03:37,730 morning, and as I always want to encourage you, if you've read 69 00:03:37,730 --> 00:03:40,930 this passage of Scripture before, just understand that we 70 00:03:40,930 --> 00:03:42,930 want to always read it with fresh eyes. 71 00:03:42,930 --> 00:03:45,290 Not that we're looking for something new in the word of 72 00:03:45,290 --> 00:03:47,570 God, but just that we want to make sure that we read it. 73 00:03:48,170 --> 00:03:51,970 Not just glazing over in the eyes or maybe even in the mind. 74 00:03:52,290 --> 00:03:54,850 Oh, this is something I've heard before, but a reminder that's 75 00:03:54,850 --> 00:03:59,290 needed and necessary for us here in Matthew Chapter 9, beginning 76 00:03:59,290 --> 00:04:02,010 in verse #32. Where it says this. 77 00:04:02,410 --> 00:04:06,210 As they went out, behold they brought to him a dumb man 78 00:04:06,210 --> 00:04:10,530 possessed with a devil, and when the devil was cast out, the dumb 79 00:04:10,530 --> 00:04:12,170 spake. Now if you were concerned in 80 00:04:12,170 --> 00:04:14,930 verse #32 what it's talking about when it talks about a dumb 81 00:04:14,930 --> 00:04:18,250 man, and I'm not trying to be cute or funny about this, the 82 00:04:18,250 --> 00:04:20,570 context is given to us right there in the next verse and 83 00:04:20,570 --> 00:04:24,290 verse #33. And when and when the devil was 84 00:04:24,290 --> 00:04:28,810 cast out, the dumb spake and the multitudes marveled, saying it 85 00:04:28,810 --> 00:04:34,530 was never so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said he casted 86 00:04:34,530 --> 00:04:39,610 out devils through the Prince of devils, and Jesus went out about 87 00:04:39,610 --> 00:04:42,650 all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and 88 00:04:42,650 --> 00:04:45,250 preaching the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every 89 00:04:45,250 --> 00:04:47,650 sickness and every disease among the people. 90 00:04:48,370 --> 00:04:52,810 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on 91 00:04:52,810 --> 00:04:58,050 them because they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep, 92 00:04:58,050 --> 00:05:01,020 having no shepherd. Then sayeth he unto his 93 00:05:01,020 --> 00:05:06,700 disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are 94 00:05:06,700 --> 00:05:09,820 few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of 95 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:15,100 the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. 96 00:05:15,780 --> 00:05:17,460 And we're going to. Focus anywhere in our text this 97 00:05:17,460 --> 00:05:19,660 morning will be on the last two verses of that chapter. 98 00:05:20,060 --> 00:05:24,340 Then sayeth he to his disciples. The harvest truly is plenteous, 99 00:05:24,340 --> 00:05:27,790 but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the 100 00:05:27,790 --> 00:05:32,470 harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. 101 00:05:32,990 --> 00:05:35,830 You may be seated as we get into our message this morning. 102 00:05:35,830 --> 00:05:38,470 Heavenly Father, I pray that you just allow me to be able to say 103 00:05:38,470 --> 00:05:40,470 what needs to be said this morning from your word. 104 00:05:40,870 --> 00:05:43,190 This is your time, not mine. And I pray that I will be a 105 00:05:43,190 --> 00:05:46,670 vessel to be able to be used of you today, and that needs to be 106 00:05:46,670 --> 00:05:48,750 met through the power of your Holy Spirit. 107 00:05:49,110 --> 00:05:51,550 And we ask it in Jesus name. Amen. 108 00:05:52,910 --> 00:05:55,510 Matthew, Chapter #9. If we were to read the entire 109 00:05:55,510 --> 00:05:57,990 chapter, which we're not this morning, but if we were to read 110 00:05:57,990 --> 00:06:01,270 all of Chapter #9, we would find that it's a chapter full of 111 00:06:01,270 --> 00:06:05,830 service and full of ministry by our Savior to the multitudes 112 00:06:05,830 --> 00:06:08,710 who, at this point in His ministry, are still flocking to 113 00:06:08,710 --> 00:06:09,830 Him. We know that as the. 114 00:06:10,430 --> 00:06:13,270 End of his ministry will draw closer that there will be people 115 00:06:13,270 --> 00:06:16,070 who will fall away. But yet here at this time there 116 00:06:16,070 --> 00:06:18,830 is still this great company of people who are following, 117 00:06:18,950 --> 00:06:21,830 particularly because of the miracles, particularly because 118 00:06:22,030 --> 00:06:23,870 of what's happening. In fact, that's what's happening 119 00:06:23,870 --> 00:06:27,110 in chapter #9 in verse number six of Chapter 9. 120 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,000 He heals A paralytic man by verse #9. 121 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,440 Talking of ministry, he calls Matthew the the the writer. 122 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:39,960 Humanly Speaking of this book, he calls him to join him as a 123 00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:42,600 from a life of being a tax collector. 124 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,640 Which, by the way, I mean probably no one else cared much 125 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:48,600 about his soul, if you understand what I mean about 126 00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:50,280 that. But Jesus cared about his soul, 127 00:06:50,680 --> 00:06:53,520 this tax collector, you say? What do you mean? 128 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:57,410 This IRS worker. That clicked all right. 129 00:06:57,410 --> 00:06:59,010 Yeah. This IRS worker. 130 00:06:59,130 --> 00:07:01,930 Jesus cared about him and called him to follow him. 131 00:07:01,930 --> 00:07:05,810 Ministry verse #22. Jesus heals a woman. 132 00:07:05,890 --> 00:07:08,010 With an issue. Of blood, by the way. 133 00:07:08,010 --> 00:07:11,010 He does that without even really paying attention to her. 134 00:07:11,010 --> 00:07:12,890 He knew she was there. He knows everything. 135 00:07:13,050 --> 00:07:15,370 But this woman just grabbed the hem of his garment by face. 136 00:07:15,370 --> 00:07:18,330 She says if I just touch the very hem, the very bottom of his 137 00:07:18,330 --> 00:07:21,450 garment, I'll be whole. And he healed her by the virtue 138 00:07:21,450 --> 00:07:25,130 that came out from him. Verse #25 He heals a little girl 139 00:07:25,130 --> 00:07:26,810 from the dead, she's. Dead. 140 00:07:26,810 --> 00:07:29,850 And Jesus says, oh, she's not dead, she's just sleeping. 141 00:07:30,170 --> 00:07:32,570 And the Bible says that they laughed him to scorn, but they 142 00:07:32,570 --> 00:07:35,410 weren't laughing when that little girl came out of her room 143 00:07:35,410 --> 00:07:37,850 alive. Just a few moments later he was 144 00:07:38,010 --> 00:07:42,090 doing ministry. In verse #28 he restores 2 men 145 00:07:42,450 --> 00:07:45,050 of their sight. We just read in our text of a 146 00:07:45,170 --> 00:07:48,450 restoring a man who could not speak and then was able to 147 00:07:48,450 --> 00:07:50,490 speak. And then we saw on verse #35 148 00:07:50,490 --> 00:07:53,490 that Jesus went about all the cities in the villages, teaching 149 00:07:53,490 --> 00:07:56,050 in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the 150 00:07:56,050 --> 00:07:58,490 Kingdom. And healing every sickness and 151 00:07:58,490 --> 00:08:02,050 every disease among the people. Chapter nine of the Book of 152 00:08:02,050 --> 00:08:07,210 Matthew is a chapter full of ministry and service done by 153 00:08:07,210 --> 00:08:09,810 none other than our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 154 00:08:10,290 --> 00:08:14,010 By the way, that's why he came. He came not to be ministered 155 00:08:14,010 --> 00:08:17,730 unto, but to minister. Aren't you glad that Jesus came 156 00:08:18,050 --> 00:08:20,490 to be a minister? It's because of that that you 157 00:08:20,490 --> 00:08:23,570 and I have the ability to be saved today because Jesus 158 00:08:23,570 --> 00:08:25,630 Christ. Died on the cross for you and 159 00:08:25,630 --> 00:08:27,390 me. By the way, if you don't know 160 00:08:27,470 --> 00:08:30,030 Jesus Christ is your savior today, you might hear some of 161 00:08:30,030 --> 00:08:32,750 what I'm saying about service today, and you might be thinking 162 00:08:32,750 --> 00:08:33,750 this. You know what? 163 00:08:33,830 --> 00:08:36,830 If I'm a good servant? If I do enough, if I perform 164 00:08:36,830 --> 00:08:40,590 enough, if I accomplish enough for Jesus, then maybe I'll gain 165 00:08:40,590 --> 00:08:44,310 entrance into heaven. And certainly there is teaching 166 00:08:44,430 --> 00:08:48,230 and doctrine from Christian organizations and denominations 167 00:08:48,390 --> 00:08:49,910 that would say that. But upon the. 168 00:08:50,430 --> 00:08:52,990 Preaching of the authority rather of the word of God. 169 00:08:52,990 --> 00:08:55,350 I want to tell you this morning that there is not enough good 170 00:08:55,350 --> 00:08:58,630 works that you can do in your life to achieve salvation. 171 00:08:58,630 --> 00:09:00,950 You cannot do enough good to erase. 172 00:09:01,290 --> 00:09:04,490 The sin that you and I have committed, that it's only by 173 00:09:04,490 --> 00:09:07,690 accepting the free gift of salvation, by repenting of your 174 00:09:07,690 --> 00:09:10,530 sin and calling upon Jesus Christ to save you, that you can 175 00:09:10,530 --> 00:09:12,330 be saved. And so if you're hearing what 176 00:09:12,330 --> 00:09:15,930 I'm saying today about service and about doing for the Lord, 177 00:09:16,490 --> 00:09:18,330 and maybe in your mind you're thinking, you know what? 178 00:09:18,330 --> 00:09:20,650 That's a good idea. If I do enough of that that I 179 00:09:20,650 --> 00:09:22,250 know that he'll let me into heaven. 180 00:09:22,370 --> 00:09:25,770 I would say that, although certainly humanly speaking, that 181 00:09:25,770 --> 00:09:27,890 might make sense. But can I tell you, according 182 00:09:27,890 --> 00:09:30,490 the word of God, that's exactly opposite of what it says the 183 00:09:30,490 --> 00:09:34,410 Bible tells us. For certain that the salvation 184 00:09:34,530 --> 00:09:37,290 is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should 185 00:09:37,290 --> 00:09:39,570 boast. Ephesians chapter #2. 186 00:09:39,890 --> 00:09:45,510 So all of this is going on in. Matthew Chapter #9 Jesus is on 187 00:09:45,510 --> 00:09:48,070 the move. Jesus is going from town to town 188 00:09:48,270 --> 00:09:51,790 and everywhere he goes, he's not waiting for people to minister 189 00:09:51,790 --> 00:09:54,710 to him. He is reaching out to those who 190 00:09:54,710 --> 00:09:57,870 he sees and he is ministering to them, either through the 191 00:09:57,870 --> 00:10:01,190 miracles that he's doing or maybe even the greatest form of 192 00:10:01,190 --> 00:10:04,590 ministry that he's doing. We saw in verse #35 that he's 193 00:10:04,590 --> 00:10:08,270 preaching and teaching the gospel of the Kingdom, because 194 00:10:08,270 --> 00:10:11,710 remember, he's not just there to meet their physical needs. 195 00:10:12,260 --> 00:10:14,020 Because although their physical needs may be met. 196 00:10:14,020 --> 00:10:15,860 We just talked about this a few moments ago. 197 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:19,260 Although the physical needs may be met, what would happen if 198 00:10:19,260 --> 00:10:21,740 someone's physical needs were met but their spiritual needs 199 00:10:21,740 --> 00:10:23,740 were ever met? Then they would be healed 200 00:10:23,740 --> 00:10:25,980 physically, but they would still die and go to hell. 201 00:10:26,100 --> 00:10:27,740 No, Jesus wasn't simply concerned. 202 00:10:27,820 --> 00:10:29,620 I wouldn't even put it to you this way, that Jesus. 203 00:10:30,310 --> 00:10:32,870 Did these miracles one because he had compassion on these 204 00:10:32,870 --> 00:10:36,270 people, but also because it authenticated his ministry and 205 00:10:36,270 --> 00:10:39,470 who he was so that people would listen to him as he preached the 206 00:10:39,470 --> 00:10:42,790 gospel of the Kingdom, as he proved himself to be the Messiah 207 00:10:42,950 --> 00:10:45,830 that he said that he was. But it's with all of these 208 00:10:45,830 --> 00:10:48,430 things that's going on and with this backdrop that we see here 209 00:10:48,430 --> 00:10:50,670 of Ministry in Matthew Chapter 9. 210 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,240 That Jesus makes the statement that we read over twice in 211 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:59,320 verses #37 and 38 about the harvest and about praying for 212 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,560 laborers of the harvest. And what I love about it is that 213 00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,880 Jesus said this out of a heart of compassion. 214 00:11:07,680 --> 00:11:10,360 Did you catch that look again in verse #36? 215 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:15,880 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. 216 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:20,040 This means that he was going from city to city and village to 217 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,280 village, and as he did so, he saw people who did not know him. 218 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,960 He saw people who did not know his father. 219 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:31,880 And it moved him, it burdened him. 220 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,880 To see those who were so close to the Savior but yet still so 221 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:42,280 far away that they may have been close in proximity, but they 222 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,880 were far away in heart. And He sees all of this. 223 00:11:46,850 --> 00:11:49,370 And he's moved with compassion. Let me ask you this today. 224 00:11:49,370 --> 00:11:52,330 Are you moved with compassion at the state of the world today? 225 00:11:52,730 --> 00:11:56,570 Many of us are moved with anger. Many of us are moved with with 226 00:11:56,570 --> 00:11:59,090 all kinds of other. Emotions that take place. 227 00:11:59,830 --> 00:12:01,630 But what we see in the world today should move us with 228 00:12:01,630 --> 00:12:05,430 compassion, to be able to proclaim the truth of the word 229 00:12:05,430 --> 00:12:06,950 of God. And that's what it's about. 230 00:12:07,070 --> 00:12:09,630 It's not about just saying, well, I'm compassionate, so I'm 231 00:12:09,630 --> 00:12:11,070 just going to leave them the world alone. 232 00:12:11,070 --> 00:12:13,790 No, no, it's. I want to with compassion, with 233 00:12:13,790 --> 00:12:15,630 neatness. As we talked about this morning 234 00:12:15,630 --> 00:12:17,670 in Sunday School. I want to give them the truth of 235 00:12:17,670 --> 00:12:20,510 the word of God because Jesus moved compassion, but it moved 236 00:12:20,510 --> 00:12:25,190 him to do something what it moved him to do, to preach, to 237 00:12:25,190 --> 00:12:29,290 teach, to give the gospel. That phrase, move with 238 00:12:29,290 --> 00:12:32,370 compassion is very interesting. That commentator William Barclay 239 00:12:32,370 --> 00:12:36,010 said the word which is used for mood with compassion, which is 240 00:12:36,010 --> 00:12:41,650 the Greek word, space, nuclear is you say. 241 00:12:41,650 --> 00:12:44,290 Why would you do that, Pastor? Because even this morning I said 242 00:12:44,410 --> 00:12:46,370 I know that I'm not going to get this right. 243 00:12:46,370 --> 00:12:47,970 So I just gave up on it right there. 244 00:12:48,170 --> 00:12:49,970 All right. So that Greek word that I just 245 00:12:49,970 --> 00:12:53,210 said, don't make me say it again, is the strongest word for 246 00:12:53,210 --> 00:12:56,330 pity in the Greek language. It describes the compassion. 247 00:12:56,630 --> 00:13:00,550 Which moves a man to the deepest depths of his being, that Jesus 248 00:13:00,670 --> 00:13:03,750 was literally moved down to the deepest part of who he was. 249 00:13:04,070 --> 00:13:05,510 Sometimes we're moved with compassion. 250 00:13:05,510 --> 00:13:06,750 We say, oh man, that's pretty bad. 251 00:13:06,750 --> 00:13:09,590 We just kind of keep walking on. And sometimes we're so moved 252 00:13:09,590 --> 00:13:13,070 that we say, I can't do anything else until I take care of this, 253 00:13:13,550 --> 00:13:15,350 until I take care of this person, until I take care of 254 00:13:15,350 --> 00:13:17,070 this need. That's what Jesus is doing. 255 00:13:17,070 --> 00:13:20,070 He is so move with compassion. And do you realize what he was? 256 00:13:20,070 --> 00:13:23,150 Move with the compassion for the multitudes that we could also 257 00:13:23,150 --> 00:13:25,030 say this this morning? He's moved with compassion for 258 00:13:25,030 --> 00:13:27,510 you. He was moved with compassion 259 00:13:27,630 --> 00:13:29,590 towards the cross so that you could be saved. 260 00:13:29,630 --> 00:13:32,190 He's moved with compassion today so that you can live the 261 00:13:32,190 --> 00:13:34,190 victorious Christian life once you are saved. 262 00:13:34,350 --> 00:13:37,070 The compassion that Jesus had in those multitudes there in 263 00:13:37,070 --> 00:13:41,510 Matthew Chapter 9 is the same compassion, that same pity, that 264 00:13:41,510 --> 00:13:45,710 that same burden that he has, that he has for you here today. 265 00:13:46,180 --> 00:13:47,460 And you say, Pastor, nobody loves me. 266 00:13:47,460 --> 00:13:49,980 Nobody cares about me. Can I tell you that Jesus Christ 267 00:13:49,980 --> 00:13:51,900 loves you? That he cares about you, and 268 00:13:51,900 --> 00:13:54,660 that he wants you to have victory in your Christian life 269 00:13:54,660 --> 00:13:56,260 today? And if you don't know him as 270 00:13:56,260 --> 00:13:58,260 savior, he wants you to get saved today. 271 00:13:58,620 --> 00:14:00,180 In fact, he may have got you up today. 272 00:14:00,180 --> 00:14:02,900 He may have found a way to bring you here to Liberty Baptist 273 00:14:02,900 --> 00:14:05,820 Church just so you can hear this message just so you could know 274 00:14:05,900 --> 00:14:08,340 Jesus Christ, your Savior. What an amazing thing that the 275 00:14:08,340 --> 00:14:11,060 God of Heaven would move heaven and earth to get you here today 276 00:14:11,060 --> 00:14:11,980 to. Hear the gospel message. 277 00:14:11,980 --> 00:14:15,680 It's an amazing thing. So with all of these things 278 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:20,480 going on, his heart of compassion, the ministry, the 279 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,240 service that's taking place, we have verse #37 and verse #38 280 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:29,280 where it says, then say if he unto his disciples the harvest 281 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:32,760 truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. 282 00:14:34,040 --> 00:14:37,760 Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth 283 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:42,780 laborers into his harvest. But this is our backdrop this 284 00:14:42,780 --> 00:14:44,220 morning. There's some things I want us to 285 00:14:44,220 --> 00:14:46,380 consider. And as we go through this, I 286 00:14:46,380 --> 00:14:49,500 believe some of it is found directly in our text, and some 287 00:14:49,500 --> 00:14:52,260 of it is an offshoot or an extension of what we see in our 288 00:14:52,260 --> 00:14:53,540 text. But all of it, I believe, is 289 00:14:53,540 --> 00:14:56,420 here, either directly or indirectly, here in our text and 290 00:14:56,420 --> 00:14:58,500 here in the word of God. And there's some things I want 291 00:14:58,500 --> 00:15:00,420 to exhort you, and I want to encourage you here this morning, 292 00:15:00,420 --> 00:15:02,820 whether you're part of Liberty Baptist Church, whether you're 293 00:15:02,820 --> 00:15:05,500 just visiting Liberty Baptist Church, whether you know Jesus 294 00:15:05,500 --> 00:15:07,780 Christ is your savior, and if you don't know Jesus Christ, 295 00:15:07,780 --> 00:15:09,460 your Savior. My exertation to you this 296 00:15:09,580 --> 00:15:10,980 morning is this. Get saved. 297 00:15:11,750 --> 00:15:14,590 Get saved. But for the rest of us, consider 298 00:15:14,590 --> 00:15:15,790 some of these things this morning. 299 00:15:15,910 --> 00:15:19,590 First of all, know this. We are to pray for laborers. 300 00:15:19,870 --> 00:15:22,630 If you are a believer, if you know Jesus Christ, your Savior, 301 00:15:22,670 --> 00:15:24,350 you know what Christ commands us to do. 302 00:15:24,590 --> 00:15:25,950 I mean, it's right here in our text. 303 00:15:26,190 --> 00:15:30,110 We are to pray for laborers. Christ starts by presenting the 304 00:15:30,110 --> 00:15:33,430 twofold problem of ministry. Here's the problem. 305 00:15:33,670 --> 00:15:37,590 There's a great harvest that's out there, but yet there's not 306 00:15:37,590 --> 00:15:40,630 enough people to collect the harvest. 307 00:15:41,490 --> 00:15:43,650 That's a problem, is that you don't have to grow up on a farm 308 00:15:43,650 --> 00:15:48,330 to know that if there's a great harvest but not enough laborers 309 00:15:48,330 --> 00:15:49,890 to collect the harvest, it's a problem. 310 00:15:49,890 --> 00:15:51,530 You say, well, it's not a big deal. 311 00:15:51,530 --> 00:15:53,170 I mean, you just kind of take your time and, you know, you 312 00:15:53,170 --> 00:15:55,250 collect the harvest. You, you work at it long enough, 313 00:15:55,250 --> 00:15:57,050 you know, you chip away at it a little bit here, a little bit 314 00:15:57,050 --> 00:15:58,970 there, you know, a few months, a couple years, you know, you'll 315 00:15:58,970 --> 00:16:03,210 eventually get it all. Do you realize the harvest is 316 00:16:03,210 --> 00:16:05,010 only there for a? Finite amount of time. 317 00:16:05,970 --> 00:16:10,210 If you don't get that harvest within time, it's gone. 318 00:16:11,580 --> 00:16:15,620 It has to be collected at the appropriate time because it is 319 00:16:15,620 --> 00:16:18,340 not going to be there in winter. It's not going to be there next 320 00:16:18,340 --> 00:16:20,460 spring. If it's harvest time, you know 321 00:16:20,460 --> 00:16:23,180 that the clock is running and you better get it because 322 00:16:23,180 --> 00:16:26,260 eventually the clock will run out and the harvest will spoil 323 00:16:26,420 --> 00:16:29,180 and all that you put the toil and effort into. 324 00:16:29,460 --> 00:16:34,000 Won't even be there anymore. A J went his school. 325 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:36,720 His class went to Wardsberry Farm this week. 326 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:38,000 Have you ever been to Wardsberry Farm? 327 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:38,800 Let's see. That's good. 328 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:41,920 So how many of you ever paid $10.00 for three strawberries? 329 00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:43,760 All right, that's oh, you've been to Wardsberry Farm. 330 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:48,840 All right, good. But it's the best strawberries 331 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:50,840 you'll ever taste. At least that's what they say 332 00:16:50,840 --> 00:16:52,320 you, you know, you know what they do? 333 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,280 This is an amazing thing. So they they have people that 334 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,560 work for their farm. Already and they plant. 335 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,960 The strawberries, I believe they went to strawberry blueberries. 336 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:03,080 What he got, he was very excited about blueberries and said, 337 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:06,920 would you get Buddy blueberries? You know, he was very excited 338 00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:09,319 about going and collecting those little baskets of blueberries. 339 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,560 But they plant way more than they can harvest themselves and 340 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,240 that's the trick, isn't it? So what do they do? 341 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:20,000 They don't have enough help and they have too much. 342 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:25,160 So they make us pay to go and do the work for him. 343 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:27,920 Have you ever thought about that? 344 00:17:28,710 --> 00:17:31,510 I mean, you say, well, I mean, I mean, I get to take it home, 345 00:17:31,510 --> 00:17:33,670 right? That little pint of blueberries, 346 00:17:33,670 --> 00:17:37,030 it's $2.00 at Hanford's is $10 by the time you take it and you 347 00:17:37,030 --> 00:17:41,670 didn't work to get it and you know you. 348 00:17:41,670 --> 00:17:47,910 Do it and we do it too so. $40.00 for a bag of apples 349 00:17:47,910 --> 00:17:51,670 that's selling Shaw's for 2:50. Oh, but it's. 350 00:17:51,670 --> 00:17:53,830 The best apple you ever have? You can't tell. 351 00:17:53,830 --> 00:17:55,230 Well, maybe you can't tell the difference, but. 352 00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:58,360 It ain't a 3750 difference, you know what I'm saying? 353 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:00,880 No, think about this. What do they do? 354 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:03,560 They plant too much. But they say this. 355 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:08,520 We need laborers. They plant too much. 356 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:16,520 They need laborers and people line up and paying real money to 357 00:18:16,520 --> 00:18:20,080 go out and be their laborers. And I've seen some families out 358 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,560 there and some of them are even happy about it. 359 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,160 I see some of them for a reason. I mean, what an amazing thing. 360 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:34,760 There's too much. They need help and people come. 361 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:38,680 Do you realize that what Jesus is saying here is this? 362 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:40,880 There's a harvest out there that's ready. 363 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:44,320 There's a harvest, right, Pastor? 364 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,040 I just don't see many people out there that want to get saved 365 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,120 today. No, I'm not asking you what you 366 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:52,560 see. That's not the eyes of faith. 367 00:18:53,650 --> 00:18:56,610 There's a harvest out there. There are souls that need 368 00:18:56,610 --> 00:19:01,290 someone to give them the gospel. And he says this If you go out 369 00:19:01,290 --> 00:19:05,410 there and you pray for those laborers, no, they won't just be 370 00:19:05,410 --> 00:19:08,290 standing there saying, where's the harvest? 371 00:19:08,370 --> 00:19:11,290 You know what they'll do. They'll say we need more help. 372 00:19:12,480 --> 00:19:14,320 We need more. We need more laborers. 373 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,520 We can't do this ourselves. So pray there for the Lord, the 374 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:21,640 harvest, that He will send forth laborers into His harvest. 375 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,120 We need to pray for laborers because Christ has told us that 376 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:28,200 help is wanted, and the one putting out The Wanted 377 00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,040 advertisement is none other than Jesus Christ. 378 00:19:31,460 --> 00:19:33,900 He is the one saying no, you say, well, why does he need 379 00:19:33,900 --> 00:19:34,740 help? He's God. 380 00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:36,420 No, no, it's not that he needs help. 381 00:19:36,420 --> 00:19:39,740 He could use whatever method that he could to be able to give 382 00:19:39,740 --> 00:19:41,660 the gospel. He could write it in the sky. 383 00:19:41,660 --> 00:19:43,340 You could have the angels proclaim it. 384 00:19:43,660 --> 00:19:45,380 He could send it through direct mail. 385 00:19:45,380 --> 00:19:47,340 He could do it whatever way he wanted. 386 00:19:47,340 --> 00:19:51,740 But he, through His abundant wisdom and his grace, has chosen 387 00:19:51,740 --> 00:19:55,980 to use you, and it's chosen to use me as the vessels of the 388 00:19:55,980 --> 00:19:58,660 greatest message that there ever was. 389 00:19:59,340 --> 00:20:03,380 He's chosen us to give it to be as ambassadors, but he says this 390 00:20:03,500 --> 00:20:06,940 There's not enough people to do the work because the harvest is 391 00:20:06,940 --> 00:20:09,260 so great. He said pray there for the Lord 392 00:20:09,260 --> 00:20:12,980 of the harvest that he'll send forth more laborers into his 393 00:20:12,980 --> 00:20:14,740 harvest. So the question is this story. 394 00:20:14,740 --> 00:20:16,620 Start this morning. When was the last time you 395 00:20:16,620 --> 00:20:20,700 prayed for laborers? Well, the world's a mess pastor. 396 00:20:20,700 --> 00:20:22,820 Well, when have you prayed for laborers for this world? 397 00:20:23,580 --> 00:20:26,500 Our nation's a mess pastor. When's the last time you prayed 398 00:20:26,500 --> 00:20:30,310 for laborers for this nation? Well, pastor, there's more work 399 00:20:30,310 --> 00:20:33,110 that needs to be done in our church, and there is more work 400 00:20:33,110 --> 00:20:34,230 that needs to be done in our church. 401 00:20:34,350 --> 00:20:36,910 But will we pray for laborers that God will send them? 402 00:20:38,150 --> 00:20:40,230 Pastor, there's a need for world missions. 403 00:20:40,230 --> 00:20:42,790 There's so many places that still need to be reached with 404 00:20:42,790 --> 00:20:44,510 the gospel. Are we praying that God would 405 00:20:44,510 --> 00:20:46,190 send laborers still to the mission? 406 00:20:46,190 --> 00:20:49,790 Field pastor, you said that there are churches that are 407 00:20:49,790 --> 00:20:51,470 closing it. I will tell you, even in the 408 00:20:51,470 --> 00:20:53,630 last 10 years there have been more Independent Baptist 409 00:20:53,630 --> 00:20:56,750 churches that have closed or compromised in Southeastern 410 00:20:56,750 --> 00:20:58,430 Massachusetts that have. Opened. 411 00:20:59,670 --> 00:21:02,470 What do we do? We got to pray for labors. 412 00:21:03,390 --> 00:21:06,870 Every town around us could use a Independent Baptist Church. 413 00:21:07,750 --> 00:21:09,270 We could plan a church in Mansfield. 414 00:21:09,270 --> 00:21:10,510 We could plan a church in Stoughton. 415 00:21:10,510 --> 00:21:15,430 We could plan another church in Brockton has 105,000 people in 416 00:21:15,430 --> 00:21:19,070 Brockton alone, and it wouldn't. Even touch what's happening at 417 00:21:19,070 --> 00:21:21,510 Liberty Baptist Church. Why? 418 00:21:21,550 --> 00:21:24,430 Because there's harvest fields in all these towns. 419 00:21:24,950 --> 00:21:27,150 Are we praying for labors? I was talking to someone just 420 00:21:27,150 --> 00:21:30,260 this last week who lives about 45 minutes from here looking for 421 00:21:30,260 --> 00:21:33,060 a church in the area where he lives. 422 00:21:33,420 --> 00:21:36,420 And you know my answer to that is we need laborers there. 423 00:21:37,140 --> 00:21:39,260 We need laborers. Are you praying for laborers? 424 00:21:39,420 --> 00:21:41,500 Well, Pastor, why would you tell me to pray for laborers? 425 00:21:41,500 --> 00:21:43,820 Because it's not me the one that's telling you to do it. 426 00:21:43,940 --> 00:21:46,860 It's Jesus who is saying it. And I would say that when he 427 00:21:46,860 --> 00:21:50,460 says it in verse #38, he's saying it not as a request. 428 00:21:50,540 --> 00:21:52,500 Hey, would you pray for laborers? 429 00:21:52,500 --> 00:21:55,980 He's saying it as an imperative. In fact, the understood you 430 00:21:56,100 --> 00:22:00,020 there would be this. You pray, pray ye it's right 431 00:22:00,020 --> 00:22:03,660 there, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labors 432 00:22:03,660 --> 00:22:05,980 into his harvest. This is not something that is 433 00:22:05,980 --> 00:22:08,340 asked of us. If you have time, this is not 434 00:22:08,340 --> 00:22:11,420 something that's asked of us. If you feel like it's 435 00:22:11,420 --> 00:22:15,500 appropriate, he says, pray ye. You pray the Lord of the 436 00:22:15,500 --> 00:22:17,660 harvest, that he would send forth labors, which means this. 437 00:22:17,860 --> 00:22:20,540 If you pray, then the burden's on him to be able to send it. 438 00:22:22,260 --> 00:22:26,300 Look, he says he will send forth labors, so you pray. 439 00:22:27,500 --> 00:22:29,180 And then the burdens on him to keep his word. 440 00:22:29,180 --> 00:22:30,460 And do you think he'll keep his word? 441 00:22:32,140 --> 00:22:33,580 I somehow seem to think that he will. 442 00:22:34,500 --> 00:22:36,420 So what do we see first? Here in our text, we see this. 443 00:22:36,420 --> 00:22:38,260 That we are to pray for laborers. 444 00:22:38,260 --> 00:22:39,860 Are you praying for laborers for the harvest? 445 00:22:39,860 --> 00:22:42,820 We need prayers. We need prayers, but it's not 446 00:22:42,820 --> 00:22:46,220 just that We're to pray for laborers. #2 This morning we 447 00:22:46,220 --> 00:22:48,340 must commit ourselves to be laborers. 448 00:22:49,220 --> 00:22:53,700 Could you imagine God asking God to do something that you're not 449 00:22:53,700 --> 00:22:57,060 willing to do yourself? Could you imagine? 450 00:22:57,940 --> 00:22:59,900 Asking God to do something that you're not willing to do 451 00:22:59,900 --> 00:23:02,780 yourself. You know, there are times here 452 00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:04,780 at the church or there are things that need to get done, 453 00:23:05,260 --> 00:23:08,060 and there are times that toilets need to be plunged. 454 00:23:09,340 --> 00:23:13,620 There are times that things have to get cleaned that aren't 455 00:23:13,700 --> 00:23:16,540 great. And could you imagine me as a 456 00:23:16,540 --> 00:23:19,500 pastor telling someone, hey, you go do that, you go take care of 457 00:23:19,500 --> 00:23:21,660 that? But then, no one's ever seen the 458 00:23:21,660 --> 00:23:25,380 pastor hold a plunger in his hand or a mop in his hand. 459 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,040 After a while you might say something like this. 460 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:31,600 Well, is he willing to do himself what he asked other 461 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:33,560 people to do? And you know what? 462 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:37,880 You wouldn't be wrong. And asking you say, Pastor, have 463 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:39,680 you plunged the toilet before? Yes, in a suit. 464 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:43,200 I didn't have to go to the dry cleaners on Monday, by the grace 465 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,640 of God, because you do what you have to do sometimes. 466 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,440 But could you imagine us saying, Lord, pray, therefore I'm 467 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:55,400 praying the Lord of the harvest send forth laborers. 468 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:00,080 And it might just be when you pray that prayer that the finger 469 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:05,320 of God comes back down to your soul and says I choose you, oh 470 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:11,320 Lord, I I meant someone else. Well, why would you pray and ask 471 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,720 me to do something that you aren't willing to do yourself? 472 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:19,440 So I don't see that anywhere in the text. 473 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:24,200 We'll know that this is just a biblical truth, that we are all 474 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,400 called to be servants. Why would we pray and ask God to 475 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,200 do something in others that we're not willing to do? 476 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,840 Listen, there are people who say God bring revival to America. 477 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,760 Just don't revive me. God change my spouse. 478 00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:43,000 Just don't change me. God send laborers, just don't 479 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:45,880 make me one. Our prayers will be hindered 480 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:50,240 unless we are willing to be laborers As we're his disciples. 481 00:24:50,660 --> 00:24:54,060 How can we pray for something that we are unwilling to do 482 00:24:54,060 --> 00:24:56,820 ourselves? And God has chosen us to be a 483 00:24:56,820 --> 00:24:59,540 servant, but He's also equipped us to be a servant as well. 484 00:24:59,540 --> 00:25:02,220 He's given us the tools. He's placed his Holy Spirit 485 00:25:02,220 --> 00:25:04,980 inside of us. He has been able to to show us 486 00:25:04,980 --> 00:25:06,900 how to minister. We all have different ways that 487 00:25:06,900 --> 00:25:08,940 we can minister. We have different spheres of 488 00:25:08,940 --> 00:25:11,100 influence that we have to be able to minister. 489 00:25:11,300 --> 00:25:14,140 We have different way. You know how different people in 490 00:25:14,140 --> 00:25:16,580 this room are able to minister? It's different. 491 00:25:16,620 --> 00:25:18,020 Everyone's different that's here. 492 00:25:18,140 --> 00:25:21,820 But yet God has given us all the ability to minister and to take 493 00:25:21,820 --> 00:25:24,140 all of those gifts, and to be able to put them together within 494 00:25:24,140 --> 00:25:26,820 His church, but then also to be able to put them all together 495 00:25:26,860 --> 00:25:29,300 within His Kingdom. To be able to accomplish His 496 00:25:29,300 --> 00:25:32,460 purpose here in Easton but also here in His world. 497 00:25:32,860 --> 00:25:36,300 But it requires what? That we don't just say Lord send 498 00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:43,580 someone else, but we say Lord. Here am I send me remember 499 00:25:43,580 --> 00:25:47,700 Isaiah chapter 6 Who shall I send and who shall go for us? 500 00:25:48,260 --> 00:25:49,980 And Isaiah Said, God, someone else. 501 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:56,040 That's not what he said. He said here am I send me. 502 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,880 And after that he talked about being a man of unclean lips and 503 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,360 how he wasn't able to do the task. 504 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,600 And God, in summary says this, you don't worry about that. 505 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,480 If you're willing, I'll give you what you need to be able to go 506 00:26:09,480 --> 00:26:11,360 and do the task. And maybe you would say this 507 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:13,520 morning, I don't know how to be a servant of God. 508 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:18,200 I just work a nine to five or I just have this thing that I do 509 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,080 during the day or I just. I don't have a whole lot going 510 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:23,160 for me, and I don't think anybody would even listen to me. 511 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:25,320 Well, listen, maybe it's just that you just need to be a 512 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,800 servant and God will give you the opportunities as you go and 513 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:32,480 you trust him that if he was to call for you to. 514 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:35,640 Pray for the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers that we 515 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:40,560 would be able to go ourselves. I don't have much you'd say I 516 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:43,840 don't have much to offer. Second Corinthians 3/5 and six 517 00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,760 say not that we are sufficient of ourselves, not that we are 518 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:52,190 sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but 519 00:26:52,270 --> 00:26:57,910 our sufficiency is of God, who also had made us able ministers 520 00:26:57,910 --> 00:27:08,030 of the New Testament. Now let me say that again. 521 00:26:59,230 --> 00:27:02,750 When we say we won't serve Him according to that verse, it's 522 00:27:02,750 --> 00:27:09,030 like saying that He's. Some of you, I mean, maybe 523 00:27:09,030 --> 00:27:20,460 chewing on that a little bit. Never mind when we don't serve. 524 00:27:21,780 --> 00:27:23,380 Because our sufficiency is in him. 525 00:27:24,300 --> 00:27:27,660 It's as if we are saying that he's insufficient. 526 00:27:29,260 --> 00:27:30,700 No, I'm not saying I've ever done this. 527 00:27:33,540 --> 00:27:35,500 So we were laughing because you know where this is going. 528 00:27:36,460 --> 00:27:37,820 I'm not saying I've ever done this. 529 00:27:39,020 --> 00:27:40,460 I don't even say I've done this at church. 530 00:27:40,540 --> 00:27:45,380 But there have been times I've written a check and maybe 531 00:27:45,420 --> 00:27:47,140 because we have a couple different bank accounts. 532 00:27:48,820 --> 00:27:52,220 I may have thought that check from here was from there or for 533 00:27:52,220 --> 00:27:56,340 there was from here. And you end up going online and 534 00:27:56,340 --> 00:28:00,300 you say, whoa, something happened. 535 00:28:01,300 --> 00:28:04,300 And that's exactly right. You know, why insufficient 536 00:28:04,300 --> 00:28:07,540 funds. And you know how they they help 537 00:28:07,540 --> 00:28:09,500 you with that. They take away more money from 538 00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:12,700 you to make sure that it's even harder to get sufficient funds. 539 00:28:12,700 --> 00:28:16,020 I love how they do that. It's, you know, just, you know, 540 00:28:16,020 --> 00:28:20,980 anyway. You try to draw upon something 541 00:28:20,980 --> 00:28:24,020 where there was nothing and what happened is it bounced. 542 00:28:24,020 --> 00:28:27,780 It was insufficient. Do you realize if you draw upon 543 00:28:27,780 --> 00:28:31,900 the resources because our sufficiencies of Christ, if you 544 00:28:31,900 --> 00:28:36,740 draw upon the resources of Christ to sminster and to serve, 545 00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:39,500 you'll never find that he's insufficient. 546 00:28:41,220 --> 00:28:43,900 You will never find that he's insufficient. 547 00:28:43,900 --> 00:28:45,820 Well, Pastor, I can't. You're right. 548 00:28:45,820 --> 00:28:50,370 But he can. Well, pastor, I, I, I know that 549 00:28:50,570 --> 00:28:52,850 this is what God's called me to do, but it but it makes me 550 00:28:52,850 --> 00:28:55,770 afraid. Well, why don't you just rest on 551 00:28:55,770 --> 00:28:58,930 him that he will help you? Pastor, there's people I want to 552 00:28:58,930 --> 00:29:00,810 give the gospel to. I know that I need to, but I 553 00:29:00,810 --> 00:29:02,370 just don't know what to do or how to do it. 554 00:29:02,610 --> 00:29:04,970 Why don't you just rest on the sufficiency of Christ? 555 00:29:05,170 --> 00:29:09,810 Listen, you can draw upon him over and over and over and over 556 00:29:09,810 --> 00:29:12,690 again. He will never be insufficient. 557 00:29:13,690 --> 00:29:18,350 Never. I've never come to the well of 558 00:29:18,350 --> 00:29:20,510 the water of Jesus Christ and found it was dry. 559 00:29:21,590 --> 00:29:22,830 Ever. He's the living water. 560 00:29:23,430 --> 00:29:24,870 Why wouldn't we want to draw upon that? 561 00:29:25,470 --> 00:29:27,470 And why would we want to give that to other people? 562 00:29:27,910 --> 00:29:29,870 So what do we do? We pray the Lord of the harvest. 563 00:29:29,870 --> 00:29:32,430 But then we're also ministering ourselves. 564 00:29:32,430 --> 00:29:35,830 We're to commit ourselves to be laborers. #3 I also see this 565 00:29:35,830 --> 00:29:37,950 this morning, and this is an extension of what I see here. 566 00:29:38,110 --> 00:29:41,710 But #3 we should commit and train our children to be 567 00:29:41,710 --> 00:29:45,790 laborers. We should commit and train our 568 00:29:45,790 --> 00:29:49,990 children to be laborers, like a parent who desires for their 569 00:29:49,990 --> 00:29:51,790 child to go into the family business. 570 00:29:52,030 --> 00:29:53,630 We should also. Train our children and 571 00:29:53,630 --> 00:29:57,190 grandchildren that there's nothing greater than to labor in 572 00:29:57,190 --> 00:29:59,910 God's vineyard. There is nothing greater than to 573 00:29:59,910 --> 00:30:03,670 labor in God's vineyard. You know, our girls have grown 574 00:30:03,670 --> 00:30:07,550 up in church, and when you're a pastor's kid, you basically live 575 00:30:07,550 --> 00:30:10,590 at church at times. You know what we've tried to do, 576 00:30:10,910 --> 00:30:14,110 what we've tried to teach him? That it's not a drudgery. 577 00:30:15,350 --> 00:30:18,670 That it's not a chore that you shouldn't be like, oh, those 578 00:30:18,670 --> 00:30:23,870 poor pastors kids or what were. Those pastors, kids it it. 579 00:30:23,910 --> 00:30:28,430 It should be no. They want to serve. 580 00:30:29,110 --> 00:30:30,510 They enjoy to serve, you know, one. 581 00:30:30,510 --> 00:30:33,790 Of the things that gives me the greatest joy as I watch my girls 582 00:30:33,790 --> 00:30:37,630 specifically get older is to see them serve not because mom and 583 00:30:37,630 --> 00:30:39,910 dad make them say, do you do that? 584 00:30:42,070 --> 00:30:43,990 Yeah, I mean when you're start a church and. 585 00:30:44,250 --> 00:30:45,770 You know, if it's not your family gets it done. 586 00:30:45,770 --> 00:30:48,410 Nothing gets done. Then say, you know, hey, by the 587 00:30:48,410 --> 00:30:52,050 way, you know, Kaylee, you're collecting the offering but and 588 00:30:52,770 --> 00:30:54,130 counting it. What do you mean you can't count 589 00:30:54,130 --> 00:30:54,850 that high? All right. 590 00:30:55,570 --> 00:30:57,970 No, not not quite. Not quite that bad. 591 00:30:58,410 --> 00:30:59,610 But they. But they did a lot. 592 00:31:00,210 --> 00:31:05,410 But to watch them want to do and not just be told to do, it's a 593 00:31:05,410 --> 00:31:08,370 wonderful thing. You know what we need to do? 594 00:31:08,370 --> 00:31:11,770 We need to make sure the next generation understands that 595 00:31:11,770 --> 00:31:15,070 serving is not a chore. By the way, if the next 596 00:31:15,070 --> 00:31:17,150 generation doesn't serve, then what happens? 597 00:31:17,790 --> 00:31:22,070 No one gets served. We have to pass it on. 598 00:31:22,070 --> 00:31:25,230 Christianity itself is always one generation from extinction, 599 00:31:25,510 --> 00:31:28,150 as long as it's not one generation giving the next 600 00:31:28,150 --> 00:31:29,830 generation. Now we know that we have the 601 00:31:29,830 --> 00:31:32,150 promise in God's word that the gates of hell will not prevail 602 00:31:32,150 --> 00:31:33,670 against the church. But you understood what I was 603 00:31:33,670 --> 00:31:34,790 saying. What I'm saying, practically 604 00:31:34,790 --> 00:31:38,550 speaking, it's one generation teaching another generation 605 00:31:38,870 --> 00:31:40,430 about the things of the word of God. 606 00:31:40,430 --> 00:31:44,270 And it's one generation seeing Mom and Dad serve that teaches 607 00:31:44,270 --> 00:31:47,030 that next generation to say that's what I need to do. 608 00:31:47,110 --> 00:31:50,630 Or it's one generation seeing Grandma and Grandpa serving that 609 00:31:50,630 --> 00:31:52,910 caused them to say that's what I need to do. 610 00:31:53,190 --> 00:31:57,110 What It's like Hannah and First Samuel, chapter one, verses 10 611 00:31:57,110 --> 00:32:00,310 and 11, where she said in bitterness of soul she prayed 612 00:32:00,310 --> 00:32:04,070 and wept, and she vowed A vow, saying, Oh Lord of hosts, if 613 00:32:04,070 --> 00:32:06,910 thou wilt indeed look on our affliction of thine handmaid, 614 00:32:07,110 --> 00:32:10,270 and Remember Me and not. Get thine handmade, but will 615 00:32:10,270 --> 00:32:12,230 give them thine handmade a manchild. 616 00:32:12,390 --> 00:32:16,030 Then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, 617 00:32:16,710 --> 00:32:18,670 and there shall be no razor come upon his head. 618 00:32:19,710 --> 00:32:23,470 What did Hannah say? Lord, if you give me a child, he 619 00:32:23,470 --> 00:32:27,270 belongs to you, and that's what she did. 620 00:32:28,070 --> 00:32:30,350 The Bible fact says that she lent him to the Lord, meaning 621 00:32:30,350 --> 00:32:33,630 that she literally gave him over to the Lord's service. 622 00:32:34,990 --> 00:32:37,830 I wonder if Hannah regretted that when she. 623 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:41,280 And I don't know that she lived this long, but could you imagine 624 00:32:41,280 --> 00:32:44,240 that maybe she did? To see her son become the 625 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,280 righteous judge of Israel, following a line of very 626 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,320 unrighteous judges, a man who was able to bring restoration 627 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,840 and healing to Israel in some ways. 628 00:32:55,480 --> 00:32:58,240 What happened? She trained a child that it was 629 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:03,160 good to serve. I I will say this that includes 630 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:07,640 the elder in our church, and I mean elder in in spiritual. 631 00:33:09,030 --> 00:33:12,790 Experience more than elder of age, but the elder in our church 632 00:33:12,790 --> 00:33:15,830 teaching the younger of our church not necessarily by age, 633 00:33:15,830 --> 00:33:19,030 but by spiritual experience. Teaching them that it's good to 634 00:33:19,030 --> 00:33:24,390 serve, it's good to serve, it's good to help. 635 00:33:25,270 --> 00:33:29,790 We all like being served, but to be served, it means somebody has 636 00:33:29,790 --> 00:33:32,350 to serve. And So what do we do? 637 00:33:32,350 --> 00:33:36,230 We, we have to be servants. We have to recognize that we are 638 00:33:36,230 --> 00:33:39,470 to serve other people. And we should, as the elder of 639 00:33:39,470 --> 00:33:41,990 this church and spiritual experience, teach the younger 640 00:33:41,990 --> 00:33:45,590 ones that no, it's OK to serve. It's OK to come to church. 641 00:33:45,590 --> 00:33:47,910 It's OK to be a help. It's OK to be a blessing. 642 00:33:47,910 --> 00:33:50,590 It's OK to give out a track. It's OK to help someone that's 643 00:33:50,590 --> 00:33:52,710 down and out. It's OK to help someone that 644 00:33:52,710 --> 00:33:54,710 needs a little bit of assistance here and there. 645 00:33:54,790 --> 00:33:56,550 Why? Because we're committing to 646 00:33:56,550 --> 00:33:59,870 train the next generation, the children, whether they be our 647 00:33:59,870 --> 00:34:02,910 own children, our own grandchildren, or the spiritual 648 00:34:02,910 --> 00:34:04,910 children. They come along here at Liberty 649 00:34:04,910 --> 00:34:07,030 Baptist Church to teach them the servings. 650 00:34:07,030 --> 00:34:09,790 Okay. In a culture where everyone's 651 00:34:09,790 --> 00:34:15,190 taught, it's all about me. In a culture where it's all 652 00:34:15,190 --> 00:34:18,350 about what can I get. I don't ever see a commercial 653 00:34:18,350 --> 00:34:19,630 that says something like this. Help. 654 00:34:19,630 --> 00:34:24,389 Someone else knows You need this, you need that. 655 00:34:24,710 --> 00:34:29,150 You get this, you get that, you buy this, you buy that. 656 00:34:30,429 --> 00:34:33,429 It's very little about. Hey, why don't you be a help to 657 00:34:33,429 --> 00:34:37,050 someone today? Well, what do we need to do? 658 00:34:37,090 --> 00:34:40,449 We need to model that here. We need to be part of that here. 659 00:34:40,730 --> 00:34:43,050 So what do we see quickly? We are to pray for laborers. 660 00:34:43,210 --> 00:34:44,810 We commit ourselves to be laborers. 661 00:34:44,810 --> 00:34:46,889 We should commit and train our children to be laborers. 662 00:34:47,170 --> 00:34:48,650 And we must also do this, number four. 663 00:34:48,650 --> 00:34:51,290 And finally, we must challenge others to be laborers. 664 00:34:52,170 --> 00:34:53,889 We must challenge others to be laborers. 665 00:34:53,889 --> 00:34:56,130 And I kind of started talking about that in the last point. 666 00:34:56,130 --> 00:34:57,930 But we can do this a couple different ways. 667 00:34:58,290 --> 00:35:01,200 We can do it by modeling. Modeling. 668 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,440 What does that mean? We show other people what the 669 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,120 posture of a servant should look like. 670 00:35:05,400 --> 00:35:08,040 We model the posture of a servant. 671 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:10,960 That's what churches need. That's what the world needs to 672 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:15,560 see people who are willing to be servants and and sometimes we're 673 00:35:15,560 --> 00:35:19,600 very unwilling to do so. I think of Jesus and his 674 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,760 disciples at the Last Supper there were feet that need to be 675 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:25,760 cleaned. Now we don't want to dwell too 676 00:35:25,760 --> 00:35:28,560 long on that, but there were feet. 677 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:31,520 That needed to be cleaned and all the disciples were looking 678 00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:34,960 at each other. Kind of like anyone, anyone 679 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:36,920 else, Peters. Kind of like, say, hey John, 680 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:38,640 what do you think? And John's like, hey Judas, what 681 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:40,560 do you think? Judas says I'm out of here and 682 00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:44,360 nobody wanted to do it. But what did Jesus do? 683 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:49,680 He gird himself with a towel, the Bible says, and he was a 684 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:53,280 servant. He modeled to his disciples what 685 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:54,560 they would not do for each other. 686 00:35:56,440 --> 00:35:58,960 By the way, service isn't always doing what you want to do. 687 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:01,840 Sometimes service is doing the jobs that you don't want to do 688 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:03,440 or you don't think that you could do. 689 00:36:05,320 --> 00:36:08,640 Yeah, I went over about the way I thought it would, but it's 690 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,160 Bible nonetheless. Service is not always doing what 691 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:13,720 you want to do. Well, I'll serve. 692 00:36:13,720 --> 00:36:16,520 If it's in within my wheelhouse, I'll service. 693 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:18,720 If it's something that I like to do, if it's something that gives 694 00:36:18,720 --> 00:36:20,800 me some pleasure, I'll do that services. 695 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:22,440 Lord, what would you have me to do today? 696 00:36:23,410 --> 00:36:25,050 Well, Lord, I don't think I could do that. 697 00:36:25,170 --> 00:36:27,930 Oh, you said you're sufficient that you will equip me, that you 698 00:36:27,930 --> 00:36:31,050 will supply all my needs. Well, Lord, I'm just by faith 699 00:36:31,050 --> 00:36:32,770 going to trust that this is what you have for me. 700 00:36:32,970 --> 00:36:35,210 And I'm going to do that. And you do that and you model it 701 00:36:35,210 --> 00:36:37,170 for other people. So by faith they will see that's 702 00:36:37,170 --> 00:36:39,330 what service is and so they can start serving too. 703 00:36:41,050 --> 00:36:44,410 We we model it, but but we also have to mentor it, such as 704 00:36:44,410 --> 00:36:45,530 modeling. It's mentoring. 705 00:36:45,690 --> 00:36:49,410 It means bringing someone along the side and saying why don't 706 00:36:49,410 --> 00:36:51,410 you, why don't you come make a visit with me? 707 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:53,520 I'll show you what it's like to make a visit. 708 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:56,600 Why don't you come help us hang out some door hangers on 709 00:36:56,600 --> 00:36:59,480 Saturday with the gospel. You come with me we'll cover the 710 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:00,880 same Rd. So I can kind of show you what 711 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,560 it's like when when someone comes outside and we talk to him 712 00:37:03,560 --> 00:37:06,040 and and get to tell him a little bit about the church and take 713 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:07,240 get to tell him about the gospel. 714 00:37:07,240 --> 00:37:11,080 Why don't you come with me. Hey, you know I'm coming up on 715 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,920 on on greeter duty. But you know, I don't want to do 716 00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,760 it by myself. Why don't we, why don't we greet 717 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,960 together or why don't you know, why don't we find some ministry 718 00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:22,720 together to be able to do, say, pastor people? 719 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:25,200 People don't really do that. That's not a natural thing to 720 00:37:25,200 --> 00:37:28,920 do. Well, it should be because if we 721 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:31,000 don't mentor people. You know how I learned? 722 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,120 You know how I learned to make visits, pastor boy, you know, 723 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:35,440 you you make visits. You come over to people's house. 724 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:37,160 You know, if I don't show up for two weeks, you'll be at my 725 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:39,360 house. I mean, it's you know what? 726 00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:40,640 How? How do you make visits? 727 00:37:41,080 --> 00:37:42,800 You know what? I went with the man who led me 728 00:37:42,800 --> 00:37:45,520 to Christ, and I started making visits with him. 729 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:49,800 I learned how to make visits actually go to. 730 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,800 You visit people in hospitals? Well, I do. 731 00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:55,000 If they need a visit, I'll. I'll go see him in a hospital. 732 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:57,880 Well, how do you do? It must be uncomfortable. 733 00:37:57,880 --> 00:38:00,840 It must be so, so strange to be able to do that. 734 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:02,920 It's not natural. Well, because I went with my 735 00:38:02,920 --> 00:38:08,160 pastor and he taught me how he mentored me. 736 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,360 He would call me. Hey, Adam, I got a visit to make 737 00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:13,960 19 years old. Going to the hospital, going to 738 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,560 the ER, go in the ICU and watching him have compassion on 739 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,900 people. About a year later after that, 740 00:38:21,860 --> 00:38:24,980 my pastor went to the hospital. You know what I did? 741 00:38:25,980 --> 00:38:28,300 I went to go see him. You know why? 742 00:38:29,180 --> 00:38:31,140 Because he had taught me that's what to do. 743 00:38:32,540 --> 00:38:33,820 We have to help each other with that. 744 00:38:33,820 --> 00:38:37,020 We mentor it and we model it. We must challenge others to be 745 00:38:37,020 --> 00:38:39,580 laborers. It said that 20% of any church 746 00:38:39,580 --> 00:38:42,060 does 80% of the work. And I don't know if that's true. 747 00:38:42,060 --> 00:38:43,540 I don't know if that ratio is correct. 748 00:38:43,540 --> 00:38:46,220 But if it was true, I would say this 80% are missing out on 749 00:38:46,220 --> 00:38:49,430 God's blessings in their life. By missing out on the service 750 00:38:49,430 --> 00:38:52,390 that God has for him. But I might be tired, Pastor. 751 00:38:52,390 --> 00:38:56,310 You know what? You'll be tired and happy when 752 00:38:56,310 --> 00:38:58,750 you serve the Lord their days. You're just kind of bone weary 753 00:38:58,750 --> 00:39:01,310 by the time you get done. But there's that joy that comes 754 00:39:01,310 --> 00:39:03,670 with knowing I got used of God today. 755 00:39:04,750 --> 00:39:09,310 I saw someone get saved. I saw a family that was a mess 756 00:39:10,070 --> 00:39:13,270 start to have some victory. I saw someone that didn't have 757 00:39:13,270 --> 00:39:15,430 some groceries. Now they have something to eat 758 00:39:15,430 --> 00:39:18,340 for the next few days, and God was able to use that in my life. 759 00:39:18,340 --> 00:39:21,780 What a joy that is. So what do we do if we're to 760 00:39:21,780 --> 00:39:24,180 challenge others to be laborers? I mean, give you this very 761 00:39:24,180 --> 00:39:25,140 quickly. We're to pray. 762 00:39:25,620 --> 00:39:27,180 We're to pray, just like I mentioned before. 763 00:39:27,180 --> 00:39:29,460 John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, said this 764 00:39:29,780 --> 00:39:33,780 You can do more than pray after you've prayed, but you cannot do 765 00:39:33,780 --> 00:39:37,500 more than pray until you prayed. Think about that. 766 00:39:37,700 --> 00:39:40,740 You can do more than pray after you prayed, but you cannot do 767 00:39:40,740 --> 00:39:44,170 more than pray until you pray. We pray for labors, but then we 768 00:39:44,170 --> 00:39:46,810 pray that God would bless our ministry and labor. 769 00:39:46,810 --> 00:39:48,850 When we labor, you know what else we do? 770 00:39:48,850 --> 00:39:50,690 We give. We pray. 771 00:39:50,730 --> 00:39:52,330 We give. What does that mean? 772 00:39:52,330 --> 00:39:54,850 We give our time and our talents and our treasure to the Lord. 773 00:39:54,850 --> 00:39:58,370 Lord, it all belongs to you, our time, which is probably our 774 00:39:58,370 --> 00:40:00,130 greatest resource because it's so finite. 775 00:40:00,130 --> 00:40:02,210 We all have the same amount, 24 hours. 776 00:40:02,650 --> 00:40:05,570 Our talents that God is a uniquely equipped each of us. 777 00:40:05,570 --> 00:40:07,530 In certain ways we're able to give that to the Lord. 778 00:40:07,650 --> 00:40:09,050 And again, not just in church, but. 779 00:40:09,210 --> 00:40:12,610 But but to be able to minister to people in our community and 780 00:40:12,610 --> 00:40:15,490 then our treasure, knowing that well, even our personal 781 00:40:15,490 --> 00:40:17,930 finances, that all belongs to God because it all came to him 782 00:40:17,930 --> 00:40:20,090 in the 1st place. And even a church like this, the 783 00:40:20,090 --> 00:40:22,890 only way we can move forward is to be able to know that we have 784 00:40:22,890 --> 00:40:26,170 the finances, to be able to keep lights on and to be able to buy 785 00:40:26,170 --> 00:40:29,410 backpacks and to be able to send kids to camp and to do those 786 00:40:29,410 --> 00:40:31,930 kind of things. It takes us praying but then 787 00:40:31,930 --> 00:40:38,570 giving but then it also. Takes us going, pray, give, go. 788 00:40:40,010 --> 00:40:42,170 At some point, we all talk about service. 789 00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:48,760 But it we have to serve. We can analyze it. 790 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,320 We can turn it around and look at it from every different 791 00:40:51,320 --> 00:40:52,480 angle. We can pray over it. 792 00:40:52,480 --> 00:40:54,400 But eventually we just got to go. 793 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:00,920 It's a story of a man named Judson Van den Venter. 794 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:05,920 Just Judson Van den Venter. He had a desire to become a 795 00:41:05,920 --> 00:41:08,640 renowned artist. After attending a revival 796 00:41:08,640 --> 00:41:11,320 meeting in Pennsylvania, he was moved to help reach the souls of 797 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,530 men. But for five years he fought the 798 00:41:13,530 --> 00:41:16,850 calling of God to evangelism to pursue his art career. 799 00:41:17,410 --> 00:41:21,050 Finally he yielded to God's call and soon found out he had a 800 00:41:21,050 --> 00:41:27,250 talent previously unknown, which was songwriting as a remembrance 801 00:41:27,250 --> 00:41:30,570 of the day he yielded to God. He eventually wrote a hymn that 802 00:41:30,570 --> 00:41:35,890 was called I Surrender All, All to Jesus. 803 00:41:35,890 --> 00:41:40,290 I Surrender All to Him. I freely Give from a Man. 804 00:41:40,730 --> 00:41:43,970 Who gave up his talent as an artist and found that God had 805 00:41:43,970 --> 00:41:46,970 something even greater for him? Do you realize today that 806 00:41:46,970 --> 00:41:49,730 whatever you're trying to hold on to by not serving, God says 807 00:41:49,730 --> 00:41:51,250 this. I've got something greater for 808 00:41:51,250 --> 00:41:53,610 you. I've got a plan that's even 809 00:41:53,610 --> 00:41:55,810 bigger than you imagine. I have a plan. 810 00:41:57,330 --> 00:42:01,010 Here's a plan of how to minister to this harvest field that's in 811 00:42:01,010 --> 00:42:03,930 front of us, but we can't do it ourselves. 812 00:42:04,610 --> 00:42:08,380 We pray for other laborers to come, whether it's here to 813 00:42:08,380 --> 00:42:11,060 liberty or whether it's here to Easton, or whether it's in our 814 00:42:11,060 --> 00:42:14,260 nation or whether it's on the mission field that we pray for 815 00:42:14,260 --> 00:42:17,740 laborers to come. But then we realize that if we 816 00:42:17,740 --> 00:42:20,300 pray for the laborers that we can't pray a prayer that we're 817 00:42:20,300 --> 00:42:23,340 not willing to answer ourselves. Lord, I'll go. 818 00:42:25,100 --> 00:42:28,740 We teach our children and grandchildren and our nieces and 819 00:42:28,740 --> 00:42:31,780 our nephews and and all of those young people who are in our 820 00:42:31,780 --> 00:42:32,820 life. We teach them. 821 00:42:32,980 --> 00:42:37,010 It pays to serve God. You say, well, it doesn't pay 822 00:42:37,010 --> 00:42:38,770 real money. It pays something a lot better 823 00:42:38,770 --> 00:42:42,850 than money because there's a lot of families have a lot of money. 824 00:42:43,570 --> 00:42:47,410 But they realize, you know what, we would give up that money to 825 00:42:47,410 --> 00:42:49,090 be able to have God's will in our life. 826 00:42:51,210 --> 00:42:54,050 And then what do we do? We challenge others. 827 00:42:54,290 --> 00:42:57,210 We mentor it, We model it, we pray, we give, we go. 828 00:42:57,890 --> 00:43:00,850 We're servants. There's a harvest out there. 829 00:43:01,890 --> 00:43:04,370 It's a harvest when it says the field. 830 00:43:04,370 --> 00:43:06,600 Is white in the harvest. You know what that means? 831 00:43:07,240 --> 00:43:13,000 It is so ready for harvest that if it's not collected within 832 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:18,240 mere hours, it's gone. When the field was white in the 833 00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:22,160 harvest, it had to be collected tenderly, carefully. 834 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:25,440 You couldn't abuse it. You had to make sure that you 835 00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:30,800 got it with the right precision so that you wouldn't lose that 836 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:34,160 what you collected. But most of all, you had to do 837 00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:37,080 it quickly. Because if not, the harvest was 838 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:39,320 gone. Could you imagine a field of 839 00:43:39,320 --> 00:43:43,200 grain just gone? Why? 840 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:47,640 Because no one collected it. It just sat out in the field and 841 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:52,760 the stalks that were so tall rising up to the sun eventually 842 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:59,560 started to sag and fall and corn starts to rot right there on the 843 00:43:59,560 --> 00:44:02,920 field. You'd say what a waste and you'd 844 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:05,640 be right. But you realize that's what's 845 00:44:05,640 --> 00:44:08,200 happening outside these walls right now. 846 00:44:08,720 --> 00:44:11,240 There are people who have a death sentence on top of their 847 00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:14,640 head, and they don't realize it. Bible says the lake of fire is a 848 00:44:14,640 --> 00:44:17,680 second death where they will live forever for all eternity, 849 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:20,640 realizing that they've rejected Christ. 850 00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:24,400 But you and I have the answer. You and I have the antidote. 851 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:27,200 We have the gospel message. And Jesus said this. 852 00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:30,840 Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he'd sent forth 853 00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:33,200 labors into his harvest, and what will you do? 854 00:44:33,560 --> 00:44:36,800 If one of those laborers might just be you. 855 00:44:37,600 --> 00:44:40,280 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 856 00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,200 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 857 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,640 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 858 00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:51,200 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 859 00:44:51,560 --> 00:44:56,080 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 860 00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:58,880 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 861 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:00,080 grow in His Word.