Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: HARVEST (11/21/19)
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TITLE: The Workers Are Few - Matt. 9: 37 NASB | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
11/25/19 -
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“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap (Gal. 6: 7 NASB).”
Rather or not our harvest will be one of blessing or one of consequence depends on the type of seeds that we sow, and the type of soil on which they land (Math. 13: 4-8).
Church Age believers are not responsible for the choices that other people make, but we are responsible and accountable for having sounded the alarm for others to hear (Ezekiel 33: 3-6).
Sowing the seeds of the Gospel Message is serious business. It can be a life saving line, or it can be a noose. The same Gospel Message that assures believers of eternal residency in Heaven (John 14: 3), assures unbelievers of eternal residency in what the Bible (Rev. 20: 15) calls the lake of fire.
The harvest that is produced when the Gospel Message is received is saved souls. The harvest that is produced when the Gospel Message is rejected is lost souls.
In the parable of Matt. 13: 24, 25, we see that darnel seed (tares) were sown into the same field that good seeds had been sown.
Darnel seed produces a plant that initially appears to be wheat, but in actuality is a harmful weed that can impact the crop.
Confusing to many is why the owner of the land chose not to uproot the tare plants, but to address the issue (Matt. 13: 30) later on at the harvest.
The answer, in part, is that God has a long history of generating scenarios in which the creatures (angelic and human) had to make choices. They could listen and obey, listen and disobey, or refuse to listen. Each choice had corresponding blessings or consequences.
God makes known what the correct choice should be, but does not violate the free will that He has given.
In the Matthew 13 parable, we see is vs. 30 that it would be at the harvest that the wheat (saved souls) would be gathered into the barn (Heaven), and at the harvest the tares would be gathered and burnt up (in the lake of fire -Rev. 20: 15).
The one who sowed the bad seed was the enemy of the one who sowed the good seed.
The bad seed consists of false gospels. The darnel plants had been rooted in false gospels, producing a crop that appeared to be wheat, but would be seen for what it really was when the harvest takes place.
The wheat have their names (identity) recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. The darnel plants do not. Anyone whose name is not found recorded in this book will be thrown into the lake of fire where he/she will spend all of eternity (Rev. 20: 15).
The sad part is that there have been, are now, and will be deceived souls who believe that they have made themselves right with God by engaging in relatively good conduct, performing good deeds, and participating in the religious traditions of men (Mark 7: 8). Such roots run deep, but like the darnel seed in the Matt. 13 parable, they will not have produced the desired crop come harvest time.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness (Matt.7: 21- 23 NASB).
There is additional harvest that God has in mind.
As an advancing disciple (Matt. 28: 20) and as an ambassador for Christ (2Cor. 5: 20), all born again believers have been commissioned (Matt. 28: 19, 20) to take part in the salvation and in the edification of others.
God causes the growth, but it is we are to plant and/or water the seeds (1Cor. 3: 6).
“Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few (Matt. 9: 37 NASB).”
Be among the few!
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