Reaping A Great Harvest Of People Into The Kingdom Of God

The King's Church International Audio Podcast

We are living in momentous times! Whilst some in the media want to write off Christianity and talk about the decline of the church, the opposite is happening in many parts of the world today.

A report by the Pulitzer Centre shows that every day 35,000 people come to Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. According to Operation World, Iran a country once closed to the gospel, now has the fastest-growing evangelical movement in the world. It is estimated that over 1 million have accepted Christ in the last 20 years.

Everything changed when the Holy Spirit came suddenly upon a group of 120 disciples. They testified boldly about Jesus to thousands who had gathered in Jerusalem at Pentecost and the church greatly accelerated (Acts 2:41,47; Acts 4:2; Acts 5:13; Acts 6:7; Acts 11:21,24).

Many churches around the world today are not meeting in small halls, but in stadiums. We too must pivot into seeing that happen in our nation. So, we are starting a new series on how it’s time to reap the harvest. We see some simple lessons from the great example Jesus gave us as He preached to multitudes about this very topic (Matthew 9:35-38).

1. We must have vision (Matthew 9:36; Genesis 15:5)

2. We must have compassion (Matthew 9:36; Matthew 4:24,12:15; Luke 6:19; Matthew 8:1-4; Matthew 9:10-17; Luke 7:47; John 8; Romans 5:5)

3. We must pray for workers (Matthew 9:38; Philippians 2:10-11; Mark 1:35-37; Acts 13:2; Matthew 6:10; Genesis 32; Colossians 4:12)

4. We need to recruit teams (Matthew 10:1; Matthew 4:19; John 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:10; John 15:8; Daniel 12:3; Romans 4:17; Luke 5:8,10-11; Nehemiah 4:6; 2 Timothy 4:5)

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1. We must have vision (Matthew 9:36). Jesus saw the crowds, and He often ministered to crowds by the power of the Holy Spirit all at once. To see a great harvest into the Kingdom of God, we must have the same vision and focus as Jesus (Genesis 15:5). You need to have a big vision of the spiritual descendants who God is sending to us to fulfil His promise. When you receive it, instead of seeing a whole heap of trouble in the crowds, you’ll start seeing how God will change the lives of millions of people who don’t yet know Jesus.

2. We must have compassion (Matthew 9:36). Jesus looked on the crowds with eyes of compassion. He saw them as ‘harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’. ‘Helpless’ means that, like so many today, they were unable to handle the challenges life in daily life, and there was no-one to help them. At that time, apart from rampant sickness, poverty, disease and demonic oppression, Roman occupation of Israel brought its own challenges. Jesus didn’t just see faces, He didn’t just see problems: even in a crowd, He saw each individual, He knew their pain and addressed it with the power of God. Many times we read in the gospels that Jesus healed everyone that came to Him (Matthew 4:24,12:15; Luke 6:19).We too can show compassion by not hesitating to pray for the sick, asking Jesus to continue His work as we lay hands on them. Jesus ministered to the crowds but also individuals and to children. He ministered to despised people. He touched lepers with His unprotected hands, re-admitting them to society (Matthew 8:1-4). He ate with the tax collectors who were so hated by many (Matthew 9:10-17). He forgave the many sins of a prostitute (Luke 7:47) and saved a woman caught in the act of adultery from being stoned to death (John 8). What do you see when you look at a crowd? Are you filled with compassion?Just like Jesus, you too can have God’s heart of compassion (Romans 5:5). God wants to give you His heart, but you must be willing to receive it. Ask God for His heart of compassion.

3. We must pray for workers (Matthew 9:38). Everything begins with our recognition that there is a Lord of the harvest. That means we are not in charge: He is. He is Lord of our hearts, Lord of our lives, Lord of His church, and Lord of everything (Philippians 2:10-11). When we are submitted both to God and to leaders in the church, we can participate in His mission of sharing the good news of the gospel. His mission begins in the place of prayer, not in the place of busyness and activity. Prayer is how Jesus set His priorities for His work (Mark 1:35-37). When we pray, God calls people into His service (Acts 13:2). Our prayer can and will produce great change, and is where the real battle for people’s the souls takes place. Sadly, many who are meant to be giving their best for God have sold themselves instead to their employer or their business, so God doesn’t have first place and isn’t Lord of their hearts. We must win a victory in the spiritual realm through prayer to release people into service for God (Matthew 6:10). Jacob wrestled with God in prayer to receive the blessing of God over his life and family. As a result of his all night encounter, his name was changed from Jacob to Israel and God blessed him (Genesis 32). We see this pattern of prayer in the New Testament church as they sought to not only win people to the Lord, but to see them established in Christ, standing firm (Colossians 4:12). Pray that God will call people out of darkness and into God’s service, that He will establish them to stand firm and give them a repentant, good and noble heart that multiplies disciples.

4. We need to recruit teams. Jesus didn’t just see the crowd, He saw what it would take to minister to them effectively. He would need to gather, train, commission, and release a team so that more people could be reached. After a night of prayer, He appointed His team of 12 disciples and sent them to do what He had been doing, giving them authority and equipping them (Matthew 10:1). This is what we must do if we are to be at full capacity for a great harvest. Jesus wants us to ask the Lord to send people who are willing to do the real work of evangelism, ministering where people are. Jesus called his team of 12 not just to stay with Him, but to go with Him, then go ahead of Him, to do what they saw him doing in public. God wants all of us to work for Him (Matthew 4:19; John 5:17; 1 Corinthians 15:10). Proof that we are disciples of Jesus is that we bear fruit of love in our character by what we do and in winning people to the Lord (John 15:8; Daniel 12:3). We must each be intentional in telling our story of what God has done in us whenever the opportunity arises. Together, like a combine harvester, we will reap as each one does their work. While some are winning people, others will be establishing people in the Lord, others will shaping and forming people as disciples so they too can serve, others will inspire and encourage people to become influencers, but all work together. Wherever we are employed, we are all first to be servants of God 24/7. Let's not allow ourselves any excuses. We have grace from God to overcome fear, to be patient and kind to people, to show mercy, to endure hardship. We may not think we can do evangelism, but God calls the things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:17). When we surrender to Him, He will help us. God is looking for workers who are available and God fearing (Luke 5:8,10-11). The first disciples were God fearing. There was no greater purpose in life for them than being with and working for Jesus, the Son of God. What’s it going to take for you to be available to God right where you are? Don’t hesitate to make the changes in your life so you can be ready for a great harvest. Make it a daily habit to tell God you are available to Him at any time to share your testimony. Then actively look for opportunities and take them. We must also be surrendered. Have you surrendered all to Jesus yet? Then we must be humble and anointed. Will you remain humble for God? Will you keep His anointing by being holy? We are to be persistent and hard-working team players (Nehemiah 4:6). Every one of us is called to ‘do the work of an evangelist’ (2 Timothy 4:5).

So to see a great harvest, we need vision to minister to multitudes of people, we need God’s heart of compassion, more prayer, and more teams. Let us pray that God will send forth many workers who will lead many people to know his son Jesus, to the glory of God! This is a momentous time where we all need to become full time servants of God in our attitude of mind. Wherever we are employed, it is time to start living on God’s terms and not our own. It’s time to receive Jesus as Lord, not just saviour. Lord of your time, money ambitions, hopes, dreams. Then you’ll be able to serve Him wholeheartedly.