BIBLE REFERENCE:
“Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest;” Luke 2:10;
ENCOURAGING WORD:
The verse above is as prevalent (generally or widely accepted, practiced, or favored) today as it was back in the days of the Prophets. Even going back to the beginning of time, God had always called on Holy men to share His messages to the world. But, just like in those days, such as the days of Noah, very few people listened. As a matter of fact, only eight people survived the flood. Noah spent 120 years warning the people of his day that judgement was coming, and that they needed to repent of their sins before that day would come. As far as building the ark, there is no clear evidence that mentions how long it actually took him to build it. Some say it took 120 years, some say it might have been done in 50-75 years. What is clear is the fact that Noah did preach the message of repentance and judgement for 120 years. Noah, born in 2913 B.C., was 480 years old when God asked him to build an ark to save all the animals of the world and his immediately family. In 2313 B.C., the year of the flood, Noah was six hundred years old.
Genesis 9:29; “So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.”
So taking the fact that Noah was 480 when God gave him the order to build an ark and the fact that the flood came when Noah was 600, that would give him 120 years to complete the project. But the question is this, did he work on building the ark right away, or did he hold off for a few years before beginning. Noah was a man of faith as we read in,
Hebrews 11:7; “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”
My point in giving this example is this; back when Noah was called to warn the whole world about the upcoming judgement, he was the only one that God chose at that time. I would say the laborers were few. One person is about as few as you can get.
Lets take a look at a few of the Old Testament Prophets. Let’s start with Isaiah.
Isaiah 28-33; Isaiah tells of six ‘woes’ that will fall on the people of Israel and Judah (and on their enemy, Assyria) as a punishment for their failure to follow God’s commands.
During his vision of the downfall of Israel, Isaiah warned both Israel and Judah that their failure to follow God’s commands would result in a series of catastrophes (sometimes known as the ‘Six Woes’).
1. The first warning of God’s wrath went to Ephraim (the people of the northern kingdom of Israel) for their debauchery. (extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures and especially sexual pleasures)
Isaiah 28:1; “Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower, Which is at the head of the verdant valleys, To those who are overcome with wine!
2. Isaiah then warned David’s city (Jerusalem in the southern kingdom of Judah) against embracing the outward signs of worship without any real emotion from the heart.
Isaiah 29:13-14; “Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near to me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me,And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder;For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
3. In the third warning about other nations. Isaiah condemned those who “work in darkness” and “try to hide things from the LORD.”
Isaiah 29:15; “Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
4. Fourthly, Isaiah criticized God’s “stubborn children” of Judah; for relying on foreign alliances. He pointed out the folly of relying on a treaty with Egypt for protection from Assyria. "They make plans, but they don't ask me (God) to help them. They hope they will be saved by the King of Egypt, but hiding in Egypt will bring you only shame; Egypt's protection will only disappoint you."
As we read in; Isaiah 30:1-3; “Woe to the rebellious children,” says the Lord,“Who take counsel, but not of Me, And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit, That they may add sin to sin; Who walk to go down to Egypt, And have not asked My advice, To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, And to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore the strength of Pharaoh Shall be your shame, And trust in the shadow of Egypt Shall be your humiliation.”
5. Isaiah’s fifth ‘woe’ rounded again on those who relied on Egypt for help. He criticized the women of Jerusalem for their complacency. (self-importance)
Isaiah 30:6-7; “The burden against the beasts of the South. Through a land of trouble and anguish, From which came the lioness and lion, The viper and fiery flying serpent, They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, And their treasures on the humps of camels, To a people who shall not profit; For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rahab-Hem-Shebat.” (arrogant, raging, turbulent, afflicter.)
6. In his sixth and final ‘woe’, Isaiah condemned Assyria the “destroyer” who plundered God’s people.
Isaiah 33:1; “Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered;And you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you! When you cease plundering, You will be plundered; When you make an end of dealing treacherously, They will deal treacherously with you.”
Isaiah prophesied the destruction of the surrounding nations as a result of God’s wrath.
Isaiah 34:1-3; “Come near, you nations, to hear; And heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, The world and all things that come forth from it. For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, And His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter. Also their slain shall be thrown out; Their stench shall rise from their corpses, And the mountains shall be melted with their blood.”
He (God) then looks forward again to better days when the restored people of Israel will return from exile:
Isaiah 35:1-3; “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, And the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, The excellency of our God.”
Once again, God used one man (Isaiah) to reach the people of his days. This is a common occurrence in the Old Testament. It appears God has reached out to certain holy men to reach people with prophecies and warnings about what would happen if they did not obey Gods commands. Notice, the (The Harvest is Great) which is in reference to all the people that Isaiah preached too.
In the Old Testament God used a total of sixteen prophets in those days to send messages of upcoming judgments as well as latter judgements that would come in the end of days. We refer to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel as the major prophets, The Minor Prophets (12) are not called minor because they are unimportant, but because of the size of their books. Prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel have larger books and so these prophets are called the Major Prophets only because their size, not their importance.
I want to expand on one more major prophet because the results of not obeying Gods message put Israel into exile for seventy years. We find this teaching in the book of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 25:8-14; “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation. So I will bring on that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied concerning all the nations. (For many nations and great kings shall be served by them also; and I will repay them according to their deeds and according to the works of their own hands.)”
Like I mentioned, in the days of the Old Testament, God only used certain holy men to bring His message to the world, and it seems in most cases that I am aware of, He used one man to share certain messages, not a multitude as we see today.
2 Peter 1:21; “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
{Now let’s move on to the days when Jesus walked the shores of the Galilee}
We start out by reading the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The four Gospels are written by four different holy men of God from four different points of view. Some may argue that they contradict each other, but when you read them with understanding and guidance from the Holy Spirit, you will see that they all complement each other with a crystal clear message. One of sin, (We are all sinful) repentance (We all need repentance) and salvation (Which can only come from the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross).
Now, when Jesus started His earthly ministry, the first thing that He did was go out and choose certain men to follow Him. We find the disciples' names in the Gospel book of; Matthew 10:2-4; Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.”
Jesus said, “You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” John 15:16; “ You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
If you take this verse and apply it to today, all those that are out there proclaiming the truth of Salvation were chosen by God, including me. But before we get into todays messengers of God, let’s take a look at the first twelve disciples that God chose to reach the world.
The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew (Nathanael); Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus (James the Less), and Thaddaeus (Judas, son of James); Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him. Jesus spent three years teaching His disciples all they needed to know to go out into the world and preach the message of repentance. One of the last things Jesus said to them was, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” We find this verse in Mark 16:15.
Jesus spent a lot of time teaching them about His life, death and resurrection as we read in the following Bible verse. Mark 9:31; “For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later.”
None of the disciples understood what He was talking about until after Jesus died and was resurrected. It was after Jesus died that the disciple went out into the world as Jesus commissioned them. It was after Jesus died that the Apostle Paul was introduced to the world. Paul was a member of the Jewish Pharisees in the 1st century CE, who experienced a revelation of the resurrected Jesus Christ. In this vision, Jesus commissioned him to be the apostle (herald) to the Gentiles (non-Jews). After this experience, he traveled widely throughout the Roman Empire, spreading the "good news" that Jesus would soon return from heaven and usher in the kingdom of God on earth. But just how many books of the Bible did Paul write? Thirteen books of the New Testament are attributed to him. The books written by Paul were actually letters he wrote to congregations and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ during his ministry years. Paul also wrote personal letters to personal Christian Brothers. He wrote these letters to Timothy, Titus and Philemon. Paul may have written the letter to the Hebrews which a lot of good scholars believe, but because it is unsigned, the debate goes on.
Then we get into a couple of holy men that went on to write letters which I’m sure were inspired by the Holy Spirit. The first one we read is the book of James. The book of James was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus. Side note; Mary had more children and is not a perpetual virgin. The next verse makes that perfectly clear, but Roman Catholicism somehow explains that all away.
Matthew 13:55; “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?”
During Jesus’ life, the Bible records that “even his own brothers did not believe in him,” John 7:1-5; “After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For even His brothers did not believe in Him.”
But after Jesus’ death and resurrection, “he appeared to James,” and James then believed. He eventually became the leader of the Jerusalem church and was instrumental in motivating the Jewish-background believers to prioritize sharing the gospel with Gentiles;
Acts 15:13-17; “And after they had become silent, James answered, saying, “Men and brethren, listen to me: Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written: ‘After this I will return, And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, And I will set it up; So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, Says the Lord who does all these things.’
Then we get into the two letters written by the Apostle Peter. Peters letters are written specifically to Jewish believers. He is encouraging the Jews in the midst of persecution to conduct themselves courageously for a person and program of Christ.
Then the Apostle John writes three smaller letters than his letter in the Gospels. These three letters are very powerful in encouraging fellowship along with other messages of living for Christ.
Then we come to the last book before the book of Revelation, in the New Testament that was written by Jude. Jude was also a half-brother of Jesus. Jude was among the siblings of Jesus who, at first, did not believe His claims to be the Messiah. At one point, they, along with Mary waited outside the place where Jesus was teaching in order to bring Him home with them. Their purpose was “to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind’” Mark 3:21. It was most likely after the resurrection that Jude and his brother James came to understand that their half-brother, Jesus, was indeed the Son of God. It was that shift in perspective that motivated Jude to define himself not as “the brother of the Messiah” but as “a servant of Jesus Christ” Jude 1:1; “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:”
Now, I’m sure that there were many more messengers of God that I didn’t mentioned that shared the Gospel to the world in those days, but I mentioned the ones that stood out to me. My point once again is this; God calls who He will to share the message of salvation with a dying world. When God calls someone, He will equip them with all wisdom and knowledge. It may take some time, but God will give them what they need at certain times, but the wisdom and knowledge will continue to grow as we share the Word of God truthfully.
Now, lets move on to the final stage of sharing the Word of God with the World. In these days in which we live, many are called to share the message of the Gospel to the world. Like it says in the opening statement, “The Laborers are Few” There are very few of us in comparison to the world population. And just like the days of the prophets and writers of the New Testament, we, whom God has called are being mocked, laughed at and even persecuted for our witness. The world will never learn. History just keeps repeating itself. The problem this time is this, we are living in the last chapter of history. There will be no more lessons to live by after these days expire. A good way to put it is like this, we are taking the last exam. Failure to pass this exam will be catastrophic in where you spend eternity. No more second chances. God has given us opportunity after opportunity to repent and turn to Him. Jesus Christ is at the door, inviting you in, and when the door closes, it will close permanently. The opportunity will be gone to be saved from the Great Tribulation. The door is still open for those that want take part in the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”
For those that don’t know what the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is, here is a brief explanation.
The marriage Supper of the Lamb is the place where the Church will be during the 70th week of Daniel 9 (the last seven years prior to the Second Coming of Christ, which has been popularly called the Tribulation period)? Several things presented in the Book of Revelation indicate that the Church will be in Heaven with Christ during that time period. One of those things is the marriage and marriage supper of the Lamb.
In Revelation 19:7; John recorded part of the loud proclamation of a great multitude in Heaven “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
Concerning the wife of the Lamb, John continued to write, Revelation 19:8-9; “And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they who are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb” “These are the true sayings of God”
A study of Revelation 5–7; 12–15; 17; 19; 21–22 clearly indicates that the Lamb is Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords who shed His blood to cleanse sinners.
Romans 7:4; “Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.” indicate that the wife of the Lamb is the Church.
2 Corinthians 11:2; also indicates that the wife of the Lamb is the Church. 2 Corinthians 11:2; “For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
In light of these identifications, it is evident that Revelation 19:7–9 is referring to the marriage of Jesus Christ to the Church and the subsequent marriage supper.
Now, here in lies the problem. There are many that God has chosen and equipped with the Holy Spirit, but there are also many that claim to be messengers of God, but are in reality, wolves in sheeps clothing. You may ask, how can we know the difference? Very simple, read the Bible for yourselves so you can discern the difference between truth and lies. Let me share again a verse that should wake us all up.
Matthew 7:13-20; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
There is a huge deception in today’s world that is being taught in the denominational churches, Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, and many other sects of Christianity. It is the largest deception in these days in which we live. They are teaching “Saved by works” This next verse should also wake everybody up, but the problem once again is this, the mainline denominations do not teach verse like this.
Matthew 7:21-23; “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
This message I believe mostly applies to the churches that I mentioned above. People go to church, then they hear a feel good message, and go home feeling good. Then the rest of the week they fall into their everyday sinful life styles. Sure, these churches have a lot of programs and things to bring people together, but they have nothing to do with teaching the Gospel of salvation. They are being taught that if they do more good than bad, they will go to heaven. Big lie from the pit of hell. Satan wants you to believe that because even he knows the truth of salvation. Here is a good time to share the following Bible verse.
James 2:19; “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”
I bring this up because, when I ask people if they are going to heaven, they're two replies are, “I believe in God” or, I’m a good person” Strike one and two. The demons believe and tremble. As a matter of fact they have seen God and they know who He is, and they are not going to heaven. They will be sent to the “Lake of Burning Fire” forever. That definitely rebukes, the fist answer. (I believe in God) Now let’s rebuke the second answer, (I’m a good person)
Mark 10:18; “But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”
We also read in; Romans 3:10-12; “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
“No one is good accept God, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) God the Holy Spirit.” If you say that you are good enough to get to heaven, then you are claiming to be as good as God. Wake up my friends, you’re not hearing the truth in your mainline denominations. Do you want to trust your church for salvation, or do you want to trust the Word of God. They are contrary in many ways. And what does it say at the end of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 22:18-19; “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
Every denominational church is guilty of what is written in the previous verses. These are promises from God.
So, let me close with these inspiring words. If someone comes to you and starts to share the Gospel with you, listen up, that person may have been called by God to reach you and if you reject the message they bring, it may be the only chance you have to receive Jesus Christ and be saved. If someone starts to witness to you, make sure that they can use references from the Bible to validate what they are saying. Then take notes and check the scriptures to make sure that you are hearing is the truth. You need to be careful of those that are bringing a false Gospel, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons and sadly, many of those that stand behind the pulpits of America in the mainline denominations. You need to know the truth and the truth can only come from reading the Word of God for yourself.
Like we read in the following Bible verse, Matthew 22:14; “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Those that are chosen are those that submitted to the calling. The laborers are few, because most people rejected God’s calling. What if everybody that was called, rejected the calling, there would be no one to share the Gospel of Salvation and we would all end up in the Lake of Burning Fire for all eternity, so next time someone stops you and starts to share the Gospel, give him or her the respect they deserve and listen carefully to what is being said. It may be your last chance to escape what is coming to our world, and it could be very soon so you may not have a second chance to receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.
I will leave you with this thought. If someone does stop you on the street to share the Gospel with you, it is most likely a divine appointment set up by God Himself. Know this, you are not rejecting the messenger, you are reject Him (Jesus) who sent him.
Matthew 24:14; “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
You will be reached in your lifetime at least once, if you reject the message, you may never get another chance. Be wise, eternity is a long time.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.”
May God Bless you in all you do, and take care!
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