07/05/2024
DIGGING DEEP
THE HARVEST.
Text: Matt.9:35-37
INTRODUCTION
One of the definitions of ‘a Harvest’ is that it is a mature crop. A harvest is something that has been
worked upon and is now ready to be plucked out from the rest and presented profitably to the planter as
profit and also prepared useful to mankind. Jesus looked at the multitude of people – the majority who
were harassed and distressed and dejected and helpless and called them the ‘Harvest.’ (Matt. 9:36-37)
Do we still have the Harvest today and what does Jesus want us to do about them? In this study, we will
answer these questions.
WHAT THE HARVEST IS
Jesus referred to the many souls needing to be brought to repentance and faith as a harvest waiting to be
reaped. God had worked (and is still working) upon them through:
1. He has placed eternity and the need for Him in every heart. Ecc. 3:11
• We have a sense of eternity in our lives; we possess an innate knowledge that there is
something more to life than what we can see and experience in the here and now.
• It may be buried deep in some people, but it is there and waiting for us to help them
realize. Act. 17:23-34
2. Prevailing circumstances that are driving them to look for solutions.
In Matt. 9:1-31 we see some of these now all around us:
• People are living in desperation now. Matt. 9:1-8
• People are faced with mysterious sicknesses. Matt. 9:9-13
• People are dead (spiritually now). Matt. 9:18-26, Eph. 4:18
• People are blind (spiritually now). Matt. 9:27-31, 2 Cor. 4:4
THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL.
The world is big. The crowds are huge. The number of spiritually lost and dying people is overwhelming.
• In Jesus' day, the population of the world was approximately 150 million people. Today's world
population grows by 150 million every two years.
• The population of the world today is over 8 billion, and only about 2.4 billion of these believe
in Jesus – that is counting the Catholics too.
• Christians make up only about 30% of the world’s population today, but it is even more alarming
when you compare it to a century ago when it was about 35%.
• Only about 1 billion are Protestants – which means the true harvest size is about 7 billion (87.5%)
of the world!!!
THE HARVESTING IS PURPOSEFUL
• Harvesting the souls is not just about evangelism, it is about labouring until they are established
in the kingdom and attending our churches where they can be preserved until the final harvest.
Lk. 14:23
• The role of RCCG in this is what is called Vision 2032. To have at least 40million people
attending services regularly in our parishes by the year 2032
CONCLUSION.
Jesus described the crowd as being "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd" (Matt. 9:36
NIV). Harassed meant that they were defeated by life. They were wandering about aimlessly. People
without hope, without meaning, without a reason for living. Like sheep without a shepherd, they would
follow anyone that gives them a purpose or popularity or new idea or way even to their destruction.
Sheep are dumb animals. They simply put their heads down and follow the sheep in front of them
without a conscious awareness of the dangers around their path.
You don’t need to look far before you see them – the Yahoo boys, the drug addicts, the drunkards, the
cultists, the LGBTQ, and several followers of new ideas, new movements, new religions, and new trends
even on social media. If a guide or leader does not exist, they will simply wander and wander and
wander until they destroy themselves.
People in this condition may never come to church. They are lost, blind, dead, bound – they don’t see
the need. They must be reached right where they are. We must guide them to the only true Leader –
Jesus. We must bring them into our parishes until the house of the Lord is filled all over the world.
Evangelism is a vital necessity for all now – at least 66,000 people are going to hell every single day
without hearing about Jesus.
