It's good to see you. I want
you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Matthew
chapter nine. Matthew chapter nine. The apostle was moved to say these words. When I'm weak, then am I strong. Those are words that we only
know and believe by faith. Because I'm telling you, by nature,
by nature, we think we're strong. We're not, we're not. Our Lord is speaking in Matthew chapter nine I'm going to begin in verse 32.
I'm going to look at verses 36 to 38. But in the 32nd verse
of Matthew chapter 9, the scripture says, as they went
out, behold, they brought to him a dumb man possessed with
a devil. And when the devil was cast out,
the dumb spake and the multitude marveled, saying, It was never
so seen in Israel. But the Pharisees said, He casteth
out devils through the prince of devils. And Jesus went about
all the cities, villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, healing every sickness, every disease
among the people. But, oh, I I tell you, my heart
was arrested when I saw that little word, but, but when he saw the multitudes, he
was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and
were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith
he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous. The laborers
are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest, and he will send forth laborers into his harvest. How beautiful to behold by faith
the ministry of our Lord. came into this world, came into this world that he
had made as a substitute of his people, to save them, his people, from
their sins. And now we see him in his ministry,
in his earthly ministry, he's going about preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, the gospel of God. Same gospel that we preached
this morning. Here was our Lord, and as he
went about, he proved himself to have been sent of God by the
miracles, signs, and wonders that he did. That's what the
scripture says in verse 35. He went about all the cities
and villages teaching in their synagogues. and preaching the
gospel of the kingdom. That's what he'd come to do.
Call out his people through the preaching of his gospel, the
gospel that set forth him, that glorified him, healing every
disease, every kind of disease. He healed nothing beyond the
power of our Lord. Every disease among the people,
he was healing. And as he went about this marvelous
truth concerning himself, the scripture says while he was going
about preaching his message, his gospel, the scripture says
in verse 36, but when he saw The multitudes. I looked at these words again.
I've gone over these words numerous times this week. Preparation. Try to preach. The message that
I, by the grace of God, been preaching now over 40 years,
Fred. Never have I felt so inadequate. Never have I felt so weak. Incapable,
never. But here, the scripture says
these precious words. He was going about preaching,
that's what verse 35 says, the gospel, healing the sicknesses
of the people. But when he saw, you know, he
came into this world and made of a woman, made under the law,
He was truly man. He was a man. And he looked,
and he saw, he beheld. And when he saw the multitudes,
here's what the scripture says. Now this is God Almighty. This is the Lord of glory. This
is God who has forever been. Never been a time when he wasn't. The scripture says he was moved
with compassion on him. I wish I knew something about
that. I wish I had a heart truly of compassion. And I'm just telling
you right now, I realized something of my coldness. I don't realize how cold I am.
But here was the Lord of glory and he was moved with empathy,
pity. He was moved with compassion
on them. And here's the reason, because
they fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. According to the word of our
Lord, there's nothing that's more helpless than a sheep that
doesn't have a shepherd. A sheep left to himself. He's
just wide open to nothing but danger. They're just helpless,
helpless. And when he saw that, then said
he unto his disciples, the harvest truly It's plenteous, but the
laborers are few. I can't tell you how many times
lately I've either talked to somebody or heard somebody say,
you know, it just appears as though that it's just less and
less, fewer and fewer preachers. And those preachers that the
Lord's raised up They're just frail. They're just frail creatures. And that's so. There ain't no
doubt about that. I can tell you that. But you
know, this didn't just start. Here's what scripture says. The
Lord says the harvest is plenteous. Truly, it's plenteous. and the
laborers a few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Only the Lord. Here was the Lord of glory walking
among men, and he saw the multitudes moved with passion. Here, these multitudes upon whom
He looked and had passion, these were they that had always been
His. He'd always known them. They
came into this world, they didn't know Him. Here He is looking
upon them and He sees them with compassion. whom he said, I will have mercy.
I will have mercy. Whom I'll have mercy, I'll have
compassion. Whom I'll have compassion. I think about those on the day
that our Lord was crucified. There were many that were there
that was railing on him. I saved others. He can't even
save himself. Can you imagine I have no idea,
you don't either, how that arrogant statement just so disrespectful
to our Lord. Here in that group that was railing
on Him, and according to the Scriptures, there were some that
even before the Lord called them out of darkness. That's what
they were doing. They were making fun of Him just
like I was and you was. before the Lord was pleased to
call us here in this message about sovereign
grace. Now, that's not fair. Who in the world could ever believe
a message like that? Oh, but unless the Lord had left
us just a little remnant, we'd all been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Unless God was pleased to call out a group of people Here were
some that the Father had given the Lord Jesus Christ in electing
grace. Doesn't that have a wonderful
sound to them? Electing grace. Sheep of His choosing. Sheep of His eternal love. Mercy. Those that have been born in
Adam, coming forth, falling. Scripture declares them to be
children of wrath, even as others, mean, haughty, arrogant people. Let's say, I've never been like
that. Well, if you were born in this
world, God called you out of darkness. Yeah, you were, because
you didn't come into this world alive. We were all born in Adam's
fall. The Lord is talking about these,
you know, when he saw the multitudes and had compassion on them. I'll
tell you who those were. They were the lost sheep. You know what they were doing?
They were burdened with the ceremonies of religion and traditions of
men and didn't even know it. before the Lord calls out His
people. They're burdened and ignorant of it. I didn't
know the need for me to cast myself upon Him, but here they
were. They were sheep, fainted, sinking
down under the weight of their hopelessness and ignorance. Think back, you that know Him,
think back before the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself to
you. What did you know concerning
Him? Here it is, let me just share
it with you. You didn't know anything. Here we were in ignorance. Dead. His people. Clueless. to the abuse that we were under.
I've told you before, I came out of false religion. I'm so
thankful for those of you that always heard the gospel of God's
grace. I didn't. I didn't. Well, let
me tell you what false religion does. It puffs you up. It puffs
up the flesh and it just makes you proud and arrogant. But here
they were. Scripture says he looked upon
them, he saw them, his heart was moved, he was moved with
compassion because they fainted, scattered, abroad as sheep, having
no shepherd. Scattered, just cast out, just
throw them out there. Like that little baby that the
Lord spoke of. Unsalted, unwashed. But when
he passed by, Oh, how thankful for those precious words when
he passed by. As I passed by, as I saw you,
here's these sheep scattered. These are they to whom the gospel
is sent. It's so wonderful to know that
there's some people in this world that God sent the truth to. The
truth that he's gonna bless. He's gonna bless it. All that
the Father giveth me. Let me tell you what I know about
that. The Father's giving him somebody.
And they shall come to me. Here's what I know, there's a
certainty in them coming. Him that cometh to me, and there's
a good word, Chuck, cometh. He comes and he comes and he
comes. I think to myself, had the Lord not given me a heart,
to want to come the first time, I didn't ever come the second. Him that cometh and cometh. I've said this, I'll just go
ahead and admit my ignorance. I remember saying this, talking
about when I came to the Lord. God's people keep coming, keep
coming. I look back and think about how
the Lord has given them a heart to come the first time. I want
to come again. You that know Him, don't you
want to come again right now? I've come to the Lord. Well,
that's wonderful. I'm so thankful for that. But
I want to come again. And as long as the Lord gives
me breath to be able to come again and come again and come
again. Him that cometh to me. Now listen
to this. I will in no wise cast him out.
Now the only thing I've got right now is his word. I look at me, and I'm worthy
to be cast out. I'm worthy to be cast off. But him that cometh to me, here's the people of God, scattered
sheep, these people, out of every nation and kindred and tribe
and tongue, the people of God. And the Lord, who is the Lord
of harvest, Here he was, he saw the multitude, verse 36, and
they that fainted, scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd. Then saith he, verse 37, unto
his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous. Man, how do I know that there's
people out there? that as of yet don't know the
Lord? Well, it's because the Lord said that the harvest truly
is plenteous. Yeah, but nobody wants to come.
Nobody wants to listen to me. They all make fun of me, Kevin.
They laugh at me. They, you know, you know, I,
well, you have your religious stuff. I'm doing fine. I'm good.
I look around and I say, well, I don't see any. Well, according
to the word of the Lord, the harvest is plenteous. They're
there. But the laborers are few. Laborers, there's not many of
them. Oh, according to the Word of
the Lord, they're there. Few with God is much. The Lord
is going to have His people. Yeah, but... I don't see men being raised
up. What difference does that make? Do you think the Lord is going
to raise up men to preach the gospel? As long as God's got
a people in this world, God's going to raise up men to preach
the gospel. What if they fail? What if they get sick? What if
they have a stroke? God's going to have his people.
It ain't up to me. It ain't up to you. Well, what do we do? Verse 38,
pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth laborers into his harvest. What do we do? Don't despair.
Oh, brethren, don't despair. Our gospel is sure. His people's
salvation is sure. He's going to have them. He's
everlastingly love them. He has laid down His life. He shed His blood for them. He
paid for them. He bought them. You think He's
going to have them? Is there anything going to keep
Him from having them? No, no, sir. Oh, the harvest is plenteous. Laborers are few compared to
my sight, your sight, concerning his word, yes. But I can tell you this, these
many, they're gonna be found. Abraham, you look toward heaven and tell
the stars if thou be able to number them He said unto him,
so shall thy seed be. God's got a spiritual seed. He's
going to have them. How's this going to be? The Lord
said it would. God is going to have His people.
How many is there going to be in the harvest? Revelation 7,
9. A number which no man could number. all the kindreds, people, nations,
tongues. The scripture says in that day,
they're going to stand before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes and palms in their hands. Lord, how could this be? It just
didn't seem as though to me that this would be the outcome. Our God is a mighty God. He does
as He willed in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth. And listen to this, nobody's going to stay His hand.
You ain't going to stop. I ain't going to stop Him. You
mean to tell me that there's a possibility that one that has
been chosen of the Father and given unto the Son, entrusted
to the Son. You think there's a possibility
that they're not going to end up in glory? There ain't a possibility. not according to our Lord's word,
all that the Father giveth me, they shall come to me. Now, I
will admit, if you consider the way we see it, in any given time,
there's just a small remnant, just a small remnant, just a
small amount, looks like that. But oh, according to His word,
The harvest is plenteous. Isn't that just thrill your heart? So what are we gonna do? What
do we do? Well, here's what we do. Number
one, we believe God. Pray ye therefore the Lord of
the harvest. Cast yourself upon the Lord. Cast yourself upon the word of
the Lord. Ask the Lord, Lord, would you send forth laborers?
Would you send forth preachers of the gospel? You ask him, ask
him. He promised he would. I jotted down these last four
things of these few verses, verse 36, 38. What did the Lord see? Well,
according to the word of the Lord, verse 36, when he saw the
multitudes, what did he feel? The scripture
says, latter part of verse 36, he was moved with compassion. Because they fainted, he was
scattered abroad as sheep, having no shepherd. He felt empathy
for them. Isn't it wonderful to know that
this morning the Lord has pity, pity for his people. What did
he say? Well, he said, the harvest, verse 37, is plenteous. Well, that ought to be a word
of encouragement to us. Yeah, well, I don't see him flocking
in here. Well, that doesn't change the word of the Lord. The harvest
truly is plenteous. Who knows, maybe the Lord saved
one of your kids. Is anything too hard for God? What do I do? I've tried to talk
to them, I've tried to reason with them, I've tried to tell
them, I've told them, I've told them. Pray ye therefore the Lord
of the harvest that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. And God's going to save his people.
He's going to save them. It doesn't appear as though that
things may be going the way I think they ought to be. Maybe it appears
as though that there's just not that many preachers, that not
this, that, and the other. My brethren, listen to me. God's
got a people, and he's going to save them. And he's not going
to lose one of them. Now that ought to be our encouragement. And I'm going to ask him, Lord,
You said that everybody that was given unto you by the Father,
they're all gonna come to you. And Lord, it looks like to me
that they're just rebellious. Let's believe God. Let's ask
the Lord to do what only the Lord can do. For His glory and
for the eternal good of His people, okay? Amen, all right.