White fields

 

1.    This time of year, a lot of people are looking forward to warmer weather.

2.    We want to be through with the snow and cold so we can get back to outdoor activities.

3.    In the land of Israel, things are a bit different.

4.    This is the time of year (March and early April) people are preparing for harvest.

    

IN THE 4TH CHAPTER OF JOHN (VERSE 35) JESUS SAID THERE WAS ABOUT “FOUR MONTHS TILL HARVEST” (I.E. IN ABOUT 4 MONTHS IT WOULD THE MARCH-APRIL TIME PERIOD WE ARE NOW IN).

 

a)      Although it was too early to harvest literal crops, Jesus said something else could be harvested.

b)      Jesus told His disciples to “lift up their eyes” and “look.”

c)      Jesus meant His disciples should see lost people who needed help.

 

2)      Most of us have been in some type of public place where there was a crowd of people.

a)      If we watch people in a group, we can find just about every human reaction known to man.

b)      We can probably find someone who is crying (perhaps a child had a request refused).

c)      Others may be smiling and expressing visible signs of happiness.

d)      Still others may appear depressed, pouting or angry.

e)      Some seem to know right where they are going while others seem to be lost.

 

3)      Jesus spoke about people who were lost in the 4th chapter of John.

4)      Jesus saw people, saw people who needed help and he saw people who were ready to receive help.

5)      These three points will be the outlines for this lesson.

a)      As we look at the life of the Lord we find that He had open eyes for the lost.

b)      If we look at the life of Jesus, we find the word “saw” being applied to Him quite often.

c)      Consider these examples:

d)      Mt. 4:18 – Jesus was “walking by the Sea of Galilee.”

e)      Had this been someone else, they may have seen all kinds of interesting things.

f)        Maybe others would see the waves, pay attention to the wind, stop to watch the boats.

g)      Maybe attention would be paid to the shore or something else at the sea.

h)      Matthew says Jesus saw two men—Peter and Andrew his brother.

i)        Jesus told these men to “follow Him” (verse 19).

 

6)      Jesus continued in this area and if we were to look at verse 21, “saw” comes to the forefront again.

7)      Jesus “saw” something else—two more men (James and John).

8)      Jesus “called” to these men as well.

a)      In the 9th chapter of Matthew we read about another man who became an apostle.

b)      Jesus “saw” Matthew (Mt. 9:9) and called Him.

c)      The Lord could have looked for many things, but He often “saw” people.

d)      Jesus searched for people.

e)      Matthew 14:14 says Jesus “saw” a great multitude.

f)        If there is a great crowd of people we can probably see the group as well as anyone else.

g)      When we say Jesus “saw” people we mean He was looking for something.

h)      Jesus used His eyes to perceive, and to help find or locate those who needed help.

 

9)      Jesus said (Lk. 19:10) that He came to save the lost.

10)  In order for that job to be done, the Lord had to do some searching.

11)  It is therefore no surprise that Lk. 19:10 also has Jesus saying He came to “seek” the lost.

a)      When Jesus gave the limited commission (Mt. 10:6), listen to what He said:

b)      “Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

c)      Jesus had an interest in the lost, and He told His disciples this interest was to be shared by them.

d)      Christ’s disciples were to develop a kind of eyesight so they too saw the unsaved.

e)      As we think about this particular subject another passage that helps us is found in Lk. 15.

f)        Lk. 15:4 tells us about a man who owned 100 sheep.

g)      For one reason or another, one of the 100 sheep disappeared.

h)      The owner went out and looked for the lost sheep.

 

12)  There might be all kinds of things to look at as this type of a search underway.

13)  What if instead of a sheep it were a lost child?  What if it were our child lost in a Chicago?

14)  There are lots of attractions in Chicago, but would they be the focus of our eyes?

15)  Whatever attractions there are, these are set aside to the eyes are trained on a certain item.

16)  Jesus tried to train His disciples so they would develop special eyesight for lost souls.

a)      We know that Jesus excelled at this type of thing.

b)      A littler later in Luke (Lk. 19) we have a story about Zacchaeus.

c)      This man was a short fellow (verse 3) and there was a crowd blocking his view.

d)      He climbed up into a tree to get a look at the Lord.

e)      In this crowd there may have been all kinds of things taking place.

f)        Jesus picked out a man who needed spiritual help and salvation came to that household.

 

17)  The account of Zacchaeus is a good passage for us to learn from.

a)      As others looked at this man they could have said some bad things about him.

b)      Because he was a tax collector some may have viewed him as a traitor (he worked for Romans).

c)      Others may have seen him as a high and mighty man who felt superior to everyone else—a snob.

d)      Still others may have regarded him as someone who could legally cheat people.

 

18)  When we look at people today we may be using the wrong type of eyesight.

a)      At least half of us in this room made a judgment last week concerning at least one person.

b)      It may have been a person we have known for a while or it may have been a chance meeting.

c)      It may have been as simple as a person not holding a door open for us.

d)      Maybe our judgment about someone was that an individual was rude or crude.

e)      Somewhere, somehow we made a judgment.

f)        Did we as we made that judgment think to ourselves, “This person is unsaved?”

g)      Did we say to ourselves, “Here is a person who needs spiritual help?”

 

19)  Jesus is our example and this is the example He gave to us.  Think about Him on the cross.

20)  What if we had been nailed t a cross for something we didn’t do?

21)  We could see people from below taunting us, and at least one of the others with us is hurling insults.

22)  It’s not hard to guess what would be going through most of our minds.

a)      We know what Jesus saw and said.

b)      He saw people who were lost and He prayed for them.

c)      Next to the Lord was a man who was also being terminated.

d)      Jesus saw in this man a ray of hope and that thief went to paradise.

e)      Jesus saw a soul to save shortly before His earthly life expired.

 

23)  As God’s people we need to develop spiritual vision.

24)  Person upon person we have contact with is lost and we need to see that.

 

TWO OF OUR THREE POINTS HAVE BEEN MADE:  WE WANT TO SEEK TO DEVELOP THE KIND OF SIGHT JESUS AND THE APOSTLES HAD, AND WE WANT TO LOOK FOR THE LOST IN EVERY PLACE WE CAN.  NOW THE FINAL THOUGHT:  BE ESPECIALLY ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING SPIRITUAL INFORMATION.

 

a)      Not long ago we examined the word “worthy.”

b)      Part of that study was based upon Mt. 10.

c)      The apostles were to go out on the limited commission and seek “worthy people.”

d)      Instead of just “go,” it was “go and find the “worthy” (the people who are really interested).

 

2)      We want to plant the seeds of the gospel as far and as wide as we can.

3)      Special attention and effort should be given to those who show an interest in spiritual things.

a)      If a non-Christian asks us a Bible question, getting it answered should be a top priority.

b)      In this type of situation, our spiritual eyes should be fully awake and on high alert.

c)      A similar thing is true when it comes to our regular assemblies.

d)      It is possible to come to worship and close our eyes (and I don’t mean literally).

 

4)      Most congregations have visitors at one time or another.

5)      Some have visitors every week, others once or twice a year, and some a few times a month.

6)      Given what we have learn thus far in this lesson we may make this point with confidence:

a)      When we come to an assembly, we need to have spiritual eyes that are wide open.

b)      There should be a conscientious effort on our part to look for visitors.

c)      When we come into the building, we should look to see if there is someone we do not know.

d)      Before we head off to class, perform another check to see if there is anyone we do not know.

e)      After class ends, check again.  A few minutes before worship starts, do another check.

f)        After worship starts, do another check.

g)      If we see someone we do not know, go to them and greet them.

h)      If they look confused, offer to help them.

i)        This is not a suggestion; it is the will of the Lord.

 

7)      Think back to Jn. 4 – Jesus said “the fields are white to harvest.”

8)      These words can be directly applied to non-Christians who come to our building.”

9)      Visitors are coming to us for harvesting.  It is almost like a crop trying to put itself into a barn.

10)  One of our responsibilities is to have the farm implements ready to go.

a)      It is not wrong to greet a visitor once, twice, or even three times.

b)      We may thus greet them before class starts.

c)      Before worship we may take them and introduce them to a couple of other families.

d)      Then before they leave, we can tell them we appreciated them coming to worship with us.

 

11)  Teresa and I have been to congregations where hundreds of saints are assembled.

12)  In one instance we went to a place that had about 400 Christians present.

13)  We walked in, sat in the middle of the auditorium, and didn’t hurry out after the service ended.

14)  Had we been non-Christians, would our souls have been harvested in this place?

15)  If faithful Christians were looking for a place to worship, how would that experience impact them?

16)  All people have their own priorities.

a)      Three priorities for Christians are found in the 4th chapter of John.

b)      We need to develop the right kind of spiritual eyesight as we live our daily lives.

c)      Our eyesight needs to be trained on those who need help, especially the unsaved.

d)      We need to be always searching and looking for those who are interested in spiritual things.

 

17)  Failing to develop these characteristics is not good.

18)  For our Scripture reading we heard Mt. 25:41-46.

a)      This was our opening text and it will be our closing text.

b)      As these verses are read, listen for the word “saw.”

c)      READ Mt. 25:41-46.

d)      Closing our eyes is associated with behavior among the “cursed.”

e)      We must open eyes.  Are they opened?  Have we opened them to become a Christian?