Good morning, everyone.
Please turn with me to Matthew chapter 10.
We're going to read from verses 16 through to 33.
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and
innocent as doves.
Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to the courts and flog you in their synagogues,
and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before
them and the Gentiles.
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious about how you are to speak or what you are
to say, for you are to say what will be given to you, given to you in that hour.
For it is not you who speak, but the spirit of your father speaking through you.
Brother will deliver brother over to death, and father his child, and children will rise
against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's
sake.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly I say to you, you will
not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.
If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those
of his household?
So have no fear for them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will
not be known.
What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father.
But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.
So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who
is in heaven.
But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Most, I think, will be familiar with the idea of a cost-benefit analysis.
It's used very commonly in business.
And it's a really helpful process when it's done well.
And it's used to evaluate a particular decision.
And cost-benefit, just as it sounds, you add up all the costs and you put that against the
benefits.
And that's your analysis.
That helps you see the value of a decision.
Now, I introduce that because as we move into this topic this morning, I think typically
we see cost as loss.
So we say something that's really costly.
We sort of feel as if, whoa, there was a considerable loss involved in that.
But that's not always the case.
So, for example, I decide to buy a particular product and I research and I find it.
I find one in a shop and it's $100.
And I think, whoa, that's a fair bit of money.
But then, over the next couple of days, I discover there's actually a very similar product,
an identical product, but it's a better quality.
But the price tag's $200.
Now, I pay twice as much money.
It costs me twice as much.
But I get the more expensive product.
Because the benefit outweighs the extra cost.
So, what I want to set up this morning as we move into these verses is to ask the question,
what would a cost-benefit analysis, what would your cost-benefit analysis suggest
in the matter of getting involved in the work of mission or harvesting
or proclaiming the gospel of Jesus,
which is at the heart of this section we're working through at the minute
from chapter 9, verse 35 to the end of chapter 10 of Matthew's gospel.
What would your cost-benefit analysis look like?
What would it suggest to you in terms of,
will I get involved in this harvest work?
Will I get involved in mission proclaiming the work of Jesus?
Or is it too costly?
Jesus describes his mission as harvesting.
We saw that last week.
And as well as describing it as harvesting,
he invites, not just invites,
but he expects his disciples
to share in this exciting but challenging work.
And it's work we saw last week that's actually guaranteed by him.
He's the Lord of the harvest.
So the harvest is hard work,
but the outcome is guaranteed.
But here's the question as we move into verse 16.
Could anybody remain excited
about this work of mission,
this work of harvest,
when we read these verses?
They're not easy to sugarcoat, are they?
If you just start with that picture in verse 16,
sheep in the midst of wolves.
Well, coming off a farm,
I've seen firsthand what a pack of wild dogs does in a flock of sheep.
And it's gruesome.
That's the picture.
They isolate one sheep after another,
and they work together.
And literally, they rip that sheep to pieces.
And in case you think, well, maybe they're hungry.
They're not.
When they're doing that,
it's for the sheer joy of killing,
when they get in that pack mentality.
That's the picture.
And then against that,
Jesus keeps on saying,
do not fear.
Do not fear.
Do not be anxious.
Do not fear.
Now,
another question arises.
There's lots of questions.
Hopefully, I'll be able to give you some answers this morning.
Why would Jesus use such a terrifying image,
followed by several equally confronting scenarios,
if he wants to encourage his followers to get involved in this work of mission?
It doesn't seem like the way to go, does it?
I went to a cross-cultural mission seminar thing.
It was setting out all the different people came and set up their stalls.
And I was really saddened but intrigued by how many images of beautiful landscapes and smiling children.
It was almost as if the appeal was,
come and work on the mission field,
and you'll see some beautiful places,
and you'll meet some lovely people.
I didn't see any stalls who had this picture of wild dogs attacking sheep.
You just wouldn't use it for advertising, would you?
And yet, Jesus did.
So, what's the go?
Well, I think Jesus is presenting a cost-benefit analysis,
for want of another picture to help you see it.
So, he's not trying to sugarcoat that which can't be sugarcoated.
The costs are real.
But the benefits make it a no-brainer.
So, what at first glance looks totally negative, totally repulsive,
is actually, I think, a perspective which allows courage, confidence, and opportunity
to triumph over fear and a sense of inability
when it comes to thinking about our engagement in the work of mission,
the work of harvesting,
as Jesus describes it.
Now, stepping back from the passage for a minute,
looking historically,
clearly this worked for the disciples.
Because the reality is that all the disciples,
with the exception of Judas,
mentioned in the beginning of chapter 10 here,
all of those disciples spent a lifetime,
as far as we know,
spent a lifetime on the mission field,
wandering around Asia Minor and various other countries,
speaking the good news of Jesus.
Most of them,
and the evidence here is a little bit more iffy,
but it seems like,
on reasonable balance,
most of them,
either died under arrest,
or were killed,
in the line of duty, as it were.
So, with that,
let's jump into the text
and dig into the details a little bit more.
But I'm going to jump in in two stages.
I want a big perspective in the text,
and then we're going to look at some of the detailed scenarios.
Hopefully that will help.
The first heading I want to use,
is that the Lord of the Harvest briefs his harvest workers.
Now, if you know anything about Special Forces troops,
and I know little,
but my son did a commando training course a few years ago,
and they spend weeks and weeks and weeks
preparing for any given mission.
Why?
Because the success of the mission
is largely determined by the quality of the preparation.
Each soldier in the unit
or the section,
typically 10 or 12 in a commando section.
Each soldier must have
total confidence in their commander.
Total confidence.
Each soldier must know
each part of the operation
so that any one of them,
in the event of a casualty,
can step in and do any particular task
on that particular mission.
They need to know the lay of the land.
They need to have confidence in their weaponry.
They need to know the strength of the enemy.
They need to know the point
at which counterattack may be launched.
They need to know what time frame they work on,
and so on and so on and so forth.
And when all of that is just
second nature to them,
then they're ready for mission.
I think that's what Jesus has said
to his disciples here.
Look, this is so big.
This is so different.
I want to get you ready
for that which I'm asking you to do.
This is a loving briefing
by Jesus for his stormtroopers.
Now is the time to prepare
for harvest mission.
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
So as I said before,
Jesus, verse 16 again,
come back to that picture.
There just cannot be sugarcoating in this.
It will be really tough, says Jesus.
It will be really dangerous.
Sheep are no match for wild dogs.
I'm calling you to work
in the context of which
you can expect to be savaged.
So Jesus is sending his disciples
to do something so new to them,
so left field to what their life experience
has been thus far,
so difficult for them,
so different from anything
they've ever experienced.
And he says to them,
okay, to get ready for this,
you need to be aware of the dangers,
and then the doves and the snake thing,
that's idiomatic language,
you need to be strategic and thoughtful
as you prepare for this.
It's going to be rough,
but you need to be cunning.
That's the imagery of a snake.
And you need to be cunning
and yet maintain integrity
and gentleness towards people.
That's the image of a dove.
And now is the time
to get that sort of stuff prepared
because when you're in the battlefield,
as it were,
and I'm mixing my metaphors here
between harvest and battlefield,
but when you're on the battlefield,
there is no time.
That is not the time
to sit down and think,
well, okay,
how are we going to do this
or how are we going to think about that?
They need to listen to Jesus.
He's calling them to the task.
He's the Lord of the harvest.
He knows the end from the beginning.
So listen to me,
says Jesus.
Take your lead from me,
says Jesus.
I'll talk you through it.
Understand the cost-benefit analysis
as you go into the task
because if you don't understand that,
you just won't have the stomach for it.
It's my harvest,
says Jesus,
and I'm the one that's sending you out.
Don't forget that.
Big picture.
Now it's interesting that even though
the imagery here is quite gory,
there's no sense of panic on Jesus' part.
The harvest is going according to plan.
And if we go back and look at chapter 9,
verse 37,
Jesus says it's going to be a bumper crop.
All systems go.
Let's get into it.
Opposition and hostility,
while fully expected by Jesus,
does not mean,
does not mean that either Jesus
or the success of the harvest
is somehow or other in doubt
or in trouble.
And so what's left then?
Well, what's left is this.
that the very things that are expected
ahead of us
do not generate the same amount of fear.
Let me just use an illustration of that.
A couple of years ago,
I went and did the Southwest Trail
in Tasmania,
Southwest Coast Trail,
90 kilometers.
Some really hard climbs,
some really exposed areas,
tough weather.
I was quite fearful
about doing it with my son
who is also the one
who's done his commander training.
So he's super fit
and I'm,
well,
you know,
Matt's already covered that this morning.
But in preparation,
I got the maps out
and I looked at the topography.
I saw where the climbs were.
I knew what days,
what climbs would be on,
what time would take me.
I read the track notes
that you can find on the web
and it tells you
what sort of terrain you're in,
how long it'll take to climb,
where the shelter spots are,
et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
And when I got to do the track,
it was quite manageable.
Why?
My fears settled
because I knew what was coming.
I had prepared for it.
My friends,
if we listen to the words of Jesus,
we can have full confidence
in the Lord of the harvest.
He has actually provided us
ahead of time
as what we might call
a harvest manual.
The track notes,
the topographic maps,
in a sense.
The things we need
to prepare ourselves
for what lies ahead.
And if you look at the language
throughout these verses,
verse 16,
I'm sending you.
Verse 18,
on my account
or for my sake,
you will such and such.
Verse 19,
when this happens,
da, da, da, da.
Verse 22,
because of me,
da, da, da, da.
Jesus is stepping us
through the mission.
When this happens,
make sure you're thinking that.
When that happens,
make sure you're hanging
on to this truth.
And at all time,
keep looking to me,
the Lord of the harvest.
If we expect to be targeted
for speaking the gospel,
then we can't,
at the same time,
be blindsided
when that
incoming round
comes to us.
We won't be,
therefore,
devastated.
We won't be debilitated
because we've been prepared
for it.
We're expecting it.
And we know
what we need to be thinking
to counter it.
So Jesus says,
identify with me,
identifying with me
means opposition
will be normal for you.
Identifying with me
means opposition
will be normal for you.
Being a disciple of Jesus
can be described
in many ways,
but one way,
it's just to say,
is to identify with Jesus,
living under his rule,
expressing his likeness
to those around us.
And verse 32 and 33,
in this passage,
in choosing to serve Jesus,
we are automatically
choosing at the same time
to be on a collision course
with our culture.
The two choices
are made in one choice,
as it were.
Our culture is determined
to find life apart from Jesus,
so therefore,
by definition,
if we choose Jesus
and choose to build a life
around him
and in him
and through him,
then we're choosing
to be opposed
to our culture.
And we can expect
a clash.
If you look at the details then,
verse 24 and 25,
sharing in the mission
of Jesus,
oh,
I got a fright there
because the verse
didn't line up.
It's the wrong chapter.
I mean,
that helps.
Verse 24 and 25,
a disciple is not
above his teacher,
nor a servant
above his master.
It is enough
for the disciple
to be like the teacher
and for the servant
like his master.
If they've called
the master of the house
Beelzebub,
how much more
will they malign
those of his household?
Sharing in the mission
of Jesus
is to step
into the role
of the suffering servant.
Is to follow
the pathway
that Jesus followed,
which was the pathway
of suffering
and then glory.
Verse 17 and 18.
Beware of men,
for they will deliver
you over to courts
and flog you
in their synagogues
and you'll be dragged
before governors
and kings
for my sake
to bear witness
before them
and the Gentiles.
Like Jesus,
we can expect
all sorts of people
to try and silence
our testimony
from the informal,
subtle exclusion
from family
or conversations
at work
to the much more
formal,
judicial exclusions
of courtrooms
and punishment.
And at times
that means
we'll be cast
as criminals
when the things
that we see
vile in society
are venerated
and applauded
and protected.
We'll be the subject
of unjust accusations
and I think
in the not too distant future
imprisonment.
Physical and verbal
balance
and so the list
can go on.
And verse 21.
You will be hated
by all
for my name's sake.
So Jesus has
some very specific
scenarios
but then he sort of
steps back
and says,
well look,
actually,
the truth of the matter
is that there'll just
be a randomness
to people who hate you.
People who've got
no other reason
to hate you
except that
you use the word
Christian.
We've experienced that.
It's just,
there's no rationale
to it,
except that
I'm a Christian
therefore I've got
to be
the subject
of hatred.
Verse 22.
That was verse 22
I was looking at
there more.
Yep.
Verse 21.
Got myself back
to front here again.
We can expect
the hatred
of family.
How many times
have we seen that?
One family member
becomes a Christian
and they're just
excluded,
if not formally.
They're excluded
by sniggering
behind the scenes.
Innuendo.
And sometimes
just the hatred
against Christ
will actually
override
the strong
binds
of family.
and in their
most extreme
cases
will actually
result in
total exclusion
or even
in cases
of murder.
Brothers and
sisters,
various levels
of opposition
will be
normal.
It is
enough
for the
disciple
to be
like the
master.
in some
ways you
can read
that
statement,
that sentence
as a
statement
of
privilege.
In that
context,
go back
to what I
said earlier
about verse
16,
in that
context
we must
be smart,
we must
be sober,
and we
must be
gospel-shaped
as we
plan how
to respond
to these
sorts of
things.
And that
takes me
into the
next point
where the
Lord of the
harvest calls
us to
trust him
as well as
to serve
him.
In chapters
8 and 9,
we worked
through a few
weeks ago
now,
the context
of nine
miracles.
And in
those two
chapters we
were confronted
with a
theme of
faith across
the different
miracles.
And some
involved in
those circumstances
and situations
were commended
for great
faith.
And the
disciples
particularly were
called out for
a lack of
faith.
And as we're
working through
that, I
wanted to find
a word that
would pick up
the idea of
faith there.
I describe
faith as the
ability to
see past
what you can
see.
To see past
immediate
circumstances
to something
that's true
behind those
circumstances.
So there was
uncleanness,
there was
sickness,
there was
death,
there was
storm,
there was
demon possession.
So faith
meant being
able to see
past those
immediate
things to
the Jesus
who actually
had the
power and
the compassion
and the
authority to
control and
change those
things.
Well I think
it's the same
here.
The word
faith isn't
used but I
think it's
the same
concept here.
As Jesus
sends out his
disciples to
the work of
harvesting,
he called
them to
great faith.
That is,
he presents
scenarios here
and as he
presents these
scenarios he's
saying to them
keep looking
at me.
Look through
your
circumstances
when they
arise in
front of you.
Look through
your circumstances
and see the
Lord of the
harvest behind
each one of
those circumstances.
The Lord of
the harvest who
will use each
of those
circumstances
towards the
success of
the harvest.
Now,
just let me
prop here for a
minute and say
I'm not for
a moment
advocating that
we should go
yay,
suffering and
persecution.
That would just
be stupid in
the extreme.
Nobody in the
right mind would
enjoy the
opposition and
suffering listed
here.
There will be
anxiety.
There will be
fears.
Jesus' point
here is that
when those
anxieties and
fears threaten
to overwhelm us
and debilitate us,
then he says,
look through
them.
Keep your
eyes on me.
Keep looking
at me.
Not only have I
gone before you
down this pathway,
but I am actually
the answer to your
fears.
I am the one
who will actually
set you free
from fear and
allow courage
and confidence.
I will set you
free from saying,
no, I don't want
to go there.
I'm not going to
risk putting my
head up to speak
for Jesus.
I'll get it
blown,
clean off.
To opportunity
to speak
of the Lord
of the harvest.
If we keep
our eyes on
Jesus,
then we will
have opportunity
to bring
gospel truth
to each
circumstance.
Fear will be
dispelled in
favor of courage,
confidence,
opportunity,
and yes,
even
privilege.
If you're into
history at all,
countless
thousands
of believers
have died
in the most
gruesome
circumstances
expressing
their sense
of privilege.
Hard to
believe.
Maybe it's
an outworking
of the Holy
Spirit saying,
I will give
you words to
say in your
darkest moment.
For countless
thousands of
those words
have been,
praise God
that I've been
counted worthy
to suffer with.
it's a little
bit foreign
to me,
I have to
be honest
and say to
you,
I have not
experienced
that,
but I sure
hope that
will be real
for me if
the day
comes when
I do have
to face
it.
I sure
hope and
I sure
pray.
So let's
jump into
four points
very quickly
and then I'm
done.
Four detailed
points now
looking through
each of the
scenarios.
We're never
on our own
in this
harvest field.
Verses 18,
19 and 20.
Now imagine
the fear.
So he's talking
there about
dragging them
before courts
and governors,
religious courts,
religious professors
cross-examining
them and so on
and so forth.
Imagine the fear
that would take
hold of these
twelve guys
whom we said
last week
were uneducated,
probably even
uncouth,
very ordinary
fishermen.
That's all
they'd ever known.
The biggest
argument they
had to have
was with a
fish.
And here
Jesus is
saying you're
going to be
dragged before
courts and
you're going to
be there to
give testimony
to me.
Imagine the
fear.
Before all
sorts of
powerful
officials,
hostile
courts,
how could
they possibly
have any
consistent
compelling
testimony to
Jesus,
let alone
one that
would stand
up against
an intimidation
of public
trial and
cross-examination?
how could
it possibly
be possible?
Too many
possibles in
there.
Look through
the circumstances
says Jesus
and remember
that the
Holy Spirit
will be your
unseen resource
at that
moment.
The supernatural
enabling of my
Holy Spirit
will give you
both words
and physical
strength,
not just
to be
there but
to be
compelling
as you
testify to
me.
Truth
dispels
anxiety
and fear
and means
the people
who otherwise
would not
hear the
gospel get
to do so.
There they
are in
these courts.
The courts
were meant
to silence
them and
the court
officials are
actually hearing
the gospel.
We see that
right through
the book
of Acts.
These same
disciples hold
before the
Jewish religious
courts,
hold before
Roman courts,
before even
the emperor
himself,
Roman provincial
leaders and so
on and so
forth and they
speak with such
passion and
conviction and
clarity that
blow me down,
they get the
better of their
learned court
officials.
Who silences
who?
Well read Acts
and you'll find
out.
We're never
alone in the
harvest field.
Number two,
apparent defeat
becomes new
opportunity,
verses 22 and
23.
Now I'm not
quite sure
exactly about
this but this
is my best
take on these
two verses.
In verse 16
and then verse
10 to 15
last week,
Jesus gives
his disciples
freedom to be
strategic and
intentional in
their work.
Without context
in the background,
I think the
point here in
verse 23 is
that at
times his
disciples must
just be content
to say,
look, the
most faithful
thing for me
to do today
is to pack
up and move
to another
village.
Such is the
hostility and
the persecution
here that
there's nothing
to begin.
I'm just
going to flee.
I'm going to
move on while
I can still
move on.
and the
reason they
can do that
is because
security is
in Jesus,
not in the
actual place
of doing
the harvesting.
so when the
time comes to
flee to a
new place,
then Jesus
said,
don't flee
thinking that
you've been
defeated,
even though it
might feel and
look like defeat
as you're
fleeing,
rather,
in a sense,
relax and
move to a new
relocation because
a new relocation
is a new
opportunity,
a new village,
a new setting
to speak the
truth of the
gospel,
the truth
of Jesus.
Don't fear
being hated,
don't fear
fleeing as
refugees.
In serving
Jesus,
you're actually
more secure,
more stable
than those
you're fleeing
from.
And again,
we see that
worked out in
Acts chapter 8.
Remember,
the Christians
were very
reluctant to
leave Jerusalem,
even though
that's the
brief that
Jesus had
given them.
What was it
that forced
them finally
to leave
Jerusalem?
Persecution.
And it
says in
Acts chapter 8,
as they
left and
wandered
around various
places looking
for somewhere
to bank
down,
they gossiped
the gospel.
Who would
have thought
persecution
brought in
the harvest?
Well,
who would
have thought
Jesus thought
it?
We were a
bit slow to
learn it,
perhaps.
many were
saved as
a result.
Number
three,
the truth
will come
out,
that life
with Jesus
is much
better than
life in
this world.
And again,
26,
27,
28,
it's hard
to know
exactly what
the application
should be
or how to
understand it,
but this
is what I've
come up with
this week.
So it
goes like
this,
verse 26,
have no fear
of them,
for nothing
is covered
that will
not be
revealed or
hidden that
will not
be known.
What I
tell you in
the dark,
say in the
light.
What you
hear whispered,
proclaim on
the housetops.
I think it
goes something
like this,
that the
enemies of
Jesus think
they can get
away with
mistreating
and abusing
Jesus'
harvesters.
Why?
Because those
sorts of
things often
happen in
the secret
or discreetly.
But I
think the
point here
is not
so.
That every
action one
day will
be made
public and
they'll be
called to
account for
them.
And so
what does
that mean
for Christians
who are
perhaps in
history,
if you want
to step
back and
look at
history,
perhaps
being
severely
abused
if not
butchered?
Well,
it means
this,
that they
can rest
in their
suffering.
It is
enough to
be like
the master.
They can
rest in the
suffering knowing
that one
day both
the truth of
the gospel
and their
own faithful
witness to
Jesus will
be brought
to light
and that
the deeds
of their
enemies will
be judged
accordingly.
in other
words,
we don't
have to
worry
about
justice
or
injustice
or
validation
or even
protecting
life
itself
because the
Lord of
the harvest
sees
everything.
And
ultimately
that's where
it takes
us,
verse 28
I think.
The gospel
perspective
in verse
28 is
this,
that we
need in
situations
of unjust
accusation
and unjust
treatment,
unjust
accusations,
whatever the
word is,
I don't
know,
unjust,
I'm confused.
In those
situations we
can just
in a sense
let it
go.
We don't
need to
fear the
enemies of
the gospel.
We sit
loosely to
life because
we see life
in this
world,
physical life
here and
now in this
world as a
temporary
life.
And we
see this
world as
something we
don't really
belong.
And we're
actually waiting
for the
forever life
that is the
real life
for us
in the
world to
come.
So therefore
we don't
need to
fear the
enemies of
the gospel
because they
don't have
ultimate
power.
They think
they have
ultimate
power but
in actual
fact they
have very
limited
power.
The most
they can
do is
just take
my life
physically.
They can't
actually get
close to
my spiritual
life,
my forever
life.
And again
if you look
back through
history that
has absolutely
caused rage
from those
who have been
butchering
Christians in
the most awful
ways because
they knew
jolly well that
having inflicted
the worst
horrors they
could on
that person
in a sense
was defying
them.
There was
something they
couldn't get
to.
Jim
Elliot,
missionary to
Indian
tribes in
South America
once said,
he is no
fool who
gives up
that which
he cannot
keep in
order to
gain that
which he
cannot lose.
I think
it was only
months after
that that
Jim Elliot
was murdered
by the
Indians he
had sought
to gospel
for so many
years.
And I
think the
story is
that I
think there
was nobody
had been
responded to
Jesus before
he was
murdered.
But strangely
to us
anyway,
not to the
Lord of the
harvest,
that tribe
of Indians
became
Christian,
many of
them,
observing
Elliot as
he died.
Again,
who would
have thought?
And again,
the answer
is,
well,
the Lord
of the
harvest
thought that.
We're just
a bit slow
to catch
up on that
gospel
perspective.
Lastly,
your father
cares deeply
for you
and controls
every detail
of your
life.
Look at
verses 29
through to
31.
Jesus
tells his
disciples,
and it's a
funny verse
here,
Jesus tells
his disciple
that a
sparrow
does not
die
apart from
your
father.
Now,
it seems
to me like
the sentence
stopped
abruptly
there.
Apart
from your
father's
what?
I think
the word
we have to
supply there,
and we're
meant to
supply there,
apart from
your father's
will.
The point
is simple,
I think.
God's
will
determines
the
lifespan
of a
sparrow
whose
relationship
to God
is simply
creature
to
creator.
By
comparison,
we relate
to God
as father
and child.
So it's a
how much
more
argument.
If God
cares for
the details
of a
sparrow,
how much
more does
he care for
the details
of his
child?
Again,
we do
not need
to fear.
if we
can see
through
the
circumstance.
We feel
abandoned.
We feel
as if
in the
middle of
ministry,
well,
God's so
busy around
the world,
he doesn't
even see
this that
I'm
experiencing
and enduring.
Not so.
God's
sovereign power
and will
guards and
determines
every moment
of your
life and
my life.
and our
moment and
method of
death.
Your
father is
equally
caring in
the hardest
times as
in the
easiest
times.
In
whatever part
of the
harvest field
you may
find yourself
in.
He will
never deny
or abandon
his child.
Picking
up this
verse,
David Livingstone,
missionary to
Africa,
once said,
we are
immortal
until God
has done
with us.
That would
allow courage
to come to
the surface,
wouldn't it,
over fear?
Corrie
Ten Boom,
the same,
didn't use
exactly their
words,
but the same
idea as she
expressed her
faith in
front of the
Nazis day
in and day
out in a
concentration
camp.
Friends,
we need to
learn to
trust God
as well as
serve him.
I think that's
been my
problem over
the years.
I've been
busy trying
to serve,
but I
haven't quite
been as
busy trying
to make
sure I
trust him
in every
situation.
we need
to keep
our eyes
on Jesus.
We need
to always
have our
eyes on
Jesus,
because that's
who we're
looking through
the circumstances
to see.
And only
that, I
think,
will give
us the
perspective
to be
faithful and
engaged
with
excitement
in the
harvest.
So,
wrapping up,
and I
know I've
gone way
over length,
so you've
been very
kind that you
haven't actually
worked out yet
only, but
I just want to
wrap up with a
couple of
thoughts.
Where has
your cost-benefit
analysis of
what Jesus is
calling you to
hear in the
harvest,
where has that
left you or
taken you?
what's your
mindset when
it comes to
engaging in
the harvest,
as Jesus
invites you to
and expects
you to,
as his
child?
Do you
find yourself
wanting to
get involved
in witnessing
for Jesus,
but you just
can't find
yourself getting
past how
much you'd
have to give
up to do
so?
Basic comfort,
personal freedom,
reputation,
money.
Is that
where you're
stuck?
Do you
find that your
anxiety and
fear renders
you silent?
When you know
jolly well,
it's not a
lack of
opportunity,
even though we
often say that.
It's actually
fear.
We render
us silent
when we
should speak.
Are you
stuck being
debilitated and
crushed by
previous attempts
at witnessing
because you
think they've
not worked out
well for you
or because the
person you
spoke to in
the end didn't
become a
Christian?
Or perhaps
worst case
scenario is you
actually know you
actually mucked it
up.
I didn't say
what I should
have said or I
said too much
in the wrong
way.
Is that where
you're stuck?
By your own
failures in the
past?
Well my
friend, can I
just say to you
this morning, if
that's you, then
can I suggest you've
taken your eyes
stuffed Jesus?
And that's a
lonely place to
be, I think.
I know because
I've been there.
You've stopped
listening to him.
You're probably
trying to serve
Jesus in the
harvest mission
without having
learned to
trust him.
cost benefit
analysis that we
could remember
of Jesus in
his saving of
you.
Massive cost
to deal with
the sins of
David Calderwood.
Benefit.
Jesus doesn't
get the benefit.
I get the
benefit of his
death.
And the
scripture tells
me I've been
filled.
Jesus was
rich and he
became poor
and I get the
riches of his
blessing.
I'm filled
daily with the
riches of his
blessing to
overflowing.
So when I see
Jesus and look
at Jesus, I
can be free to
allow those
blessings to
overflow for the
sake of Christ.
Pray the
Lord of the
harvest might
send you into
the harvest
field with
new faith,
new ability to
see the Lord of
the harvest behind
every immediate
circumstance of
persecution or
suffering.
And pray that
you might learn
to trust.
Pray with me
now.
Lord, we
thank you for
your kindness.
That in a
passage that
immediately
presented as
just overwhelmingly
negative, and
yet it opens up
with a rich
warmth and
positivity.
We thank you,
Lord, that you've
not just called us
to a task that
you haven't also
equipped us for.
And we pray,
Lord, that we
might, in a
sense, read your
manual that's
before us today,
and take it on
board, and
practice, practice,
practice, so that
we might be able to
keep our eyes on you
and see through
immediate circumstances
and find that our
fears and anxieties
are dispelled.
health, and we
have instead courage
and confidence and
compassion like you
and desire to
speak your word to
those around us.
I pray in Jesus'
name, amen.
Thank you.