Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe Him right now and life
everlasting is yours. Trust the Son of God, His obedience, His death, the
merit of His blood, the merit of His righteousness. Trust Him
alone as your Savior. Bow to Him as your Lord and eternal
life God has given you. This message, it is our business,
our privilege, our honor, to devote ourselves to proclaiming. This message we seek to make
known in all the world. And in thus making known the
message of God's free grace in Jesus Christ the Lord, we serve
our generation by the will of God. As a congregation, we spend
an enormous amount of time energy and money preaching the gospel. Through your generosity, I remind
you of some things that God allows us to do. This local church regularly
supports faithful gospel missionaries. I get a little upset when folks
ask me, missionaries you support believe what you do? If they
didn't, I would pay them to come home. I wouldn't send them a
dime to stay. I wouldn't support Armenian free
will, works, religion. I wouldn't support anybody who
preaches it anywhere to do anything and won't allow this congregation
to. Not going to happen. We support missionaries and their
families in Mexico, in New Guinea, and in the Virgin Islands. We
have hosted our Sovereign Grace Bible Conference every year now
for 28 years. how God has blessed that labor.
Having preachers in here and guests from around the world
every year to hear the gospel and fellowship in the cause of
our Redeemer, we assist in the publication and distribution
of gospel literature in Great Britain, in the Ivory Coast of
Africa, in France, in Italy, and in Russia. For 28 years,
We've been putting together our monthly magazine, The Grace Bulletin,
and bi-monthly magazine now, and sending it to folks all over
the world as they request it. And God continues to use it in
a lot of ways. Everything I write, everything
preached from this pulpit, is posted on the internet, audio
and most of the video as well, or many of the videos. Everything
I write, sermon notes, books, Sunday school literature, everything,
posted on the internet for folks to use freely. all over the world. In the last two years, this is
next to impossible to fathom, there have been 239,000 gospel
sermons downloaded off Free Grace Radio. 239,000 I never dreamed of preaching
to 239 people, much less 239,000. Imagine that. God's bounty is grace, making
these things possible. We not only post my own, but
if I counted correctly, you can see Larry later, he'll tell you
for sure, we post the sermons of 37 other preachers every week
on Free Grace Radio. Brother Phil Simpson started
Grace for Today. years ago, the first of the Sovereign
Grace webpages and Sovereign Grace articles, Brother Ron Thompson,
who's now with the Lord, maintained for years. Some of our men, Brother
Merrill, Brother Bob, Bob Duff, Bob Harmon, Bob Ponser, go every
week and play the messages preached here at the great local radio
station, or television stations. And we assist in supporting pastors
of other churches in various parts of the country. The Lord's
allowed us the privilege of helping congregations who can't support
a pastor full-time to keep bread on their tables, and we're thankful
for the opportunity, privilege. Over the years, sending out cassette
tapes and VHS tapes and now a CD and DVD disc of the messages
here, video and audio, literally, Thousands and thousands and thousands
every year of messages go out around the world. And God used
those means to establish three gospel churches in this country.
The church up in Princeton where Brother Clay Curtis is pastor.
The church out in Rock Valley, Iowa where Brother Joe Terrell
is pastor. And the congregation that's now
begun in Portland, Oregon where Brother Wayne Boyd is pastor.
Hope to go there soon. And God's continuing to use these
things. In addition to these, you send
your pastor wherever God opens a door, wherever I'm needed,
to assist other churches, other pastors, folks meeting in their
homes, wherever the gospel can be preached and God opens a door
or God raises up some folks desiring to establish a church, you give
generously and you give regularly for the furtherance of the gospel.
And I never hesitate to ask you to. I don't hesitate. If there's
a need, I ask you to dig a little deeper and give a little more.
I don't ask you or anyone else to give me anything. But for
the cause of Christ, for the support of other men, I don't
hesitate to ask folks to give generously. And I thank God I
don't have to ask you. You see the needs and take care
of it. Personally, I arduously devote myself to the work of
preaching the gospel, to study. I make it my business, and I think
you ought to know this, and I say it not so much for you, because
you know it, as I do for other preachers who have a tendency
to get a little lazy. There's not any man in this congregation,
I've never preached to a man who works as many hours as I
do, doing what I do, because I love to do it. But you're not
going to work and find me sitting around doing nothing. I'm not
going to have that happen. More than that, the gospel of
God's grace deserves the best we can give. Shelby devotes her
time to assisting in the work here. She spends 50, 60, sometimes
70 hours a week out here in the office with me getting the message
out. Just get it out. However, God
opens the door. Now, why? Why do you do so? Why do we spend this time and
money and effort to get the gospel out? I talked to Brother Darwin
Pruitt the day before yesterday. Why would he quit a good job,
cash in his retirement, sell his house, and move to Taylor,
Arkansas to preach to a dozen people? Why? Why on this earth would a man
like Brother Clay Curtis give up a good job, secure a job,
Sell his house, pack up his wife and his children, and move his
family to Princeton, New Jersey to meet in the upstairs room
of a firehouse and preach to a few folks. How come? Friday, Shelby and I drove over
to Louisville and took Fred Evans and his family out for lunch.
Had a good visit with them. I've known Fred since he's eight
years old. How old are you? Ten? He was just about your size when
he was eight. First time I met him, and school teacher, wife
teaches school. Why on earth would they quit
their jobs in Houston, Texas, move to Louisville, Kentucky,
live off the income she had last year to preach to a few folks
up in Louisville, Kentucky? How come? Why are you, sensible,
hardworking, intelligent men and women, willing to do without
some of the comforts and pleasures you can afford so that you can
support the cause of Christ, giving your money away to folks
some of you don't even know. What makes a man like Walter
Groover sell his house, take his babies
and his wife with no visible means of support, pack up, move
to Mexico? Spent 45 years there. Raised
his family there. Plans to be buried there. His
son, Cody, 13 years ago, just when his career was beginning
to take off, he talked about a gravy train job. Cody had a
great job, great job. Sometimes he had to work four
and five hours a day, sometimes, and got paid good money for it.
Sold his house, took off to Mexico. How come? But the cliff Heller,
hopefully he and Marty will be with us in a few weeks. 83 years old. I believe he is. You know what
we're going to do as soon as they leave here? Going back to
New Guinea to climb around in mountains and jungles, preach
to folks that don't even know how to spell their first name.
How come? I want to answer these questions
in this message. Turn to John chapter 4. If you're
taking notes, here's the title of my message. Reaping where
others labored and laboring for others to reap. Reaping where
others labored and laboring for others to reap. John chapter 4. Verse 35. Say ye not there are yet four
months and then cometh the harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift
up your eyes and look on the fields. For they're white already
to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth
wages. and gathereth fruit unto eternal
life, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice
together. And herein is that saying true,
one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon
you bestowed no labor. Other men labored, and ye are
entered into their labors. Now here, our savior tells us
that one great motive for evangelism, one great motive for missionary
effort, one great motive for the preaching of the gospel is
just this. This is the time to do it. This is the time. We don't have
yesterday and we have no promise of tomorrow. This is the time. This is the time of our opportunity. This is the time God has given
us. So let us labor while it is day
for the night comes when no man can work. Our master here tells
us that we are never to think. We're never to act. as if there's
some future time for us to do what we're responsible to do.
Say ye not, there are yet four months, then cometh the harvest.
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They are white right now, white
already, ready to be reaped, white already under harvest. I call on you. I call on myself. I call on this congregation,
each of us who have experienced God's mercy, his love and grace
in Christ, to devote ourselves to this business of preaching
the gospel. At home and abroad, let us be
faithful witnesses. Let us serve our generation according
to the will of God. This is our mission, the mission
upon which God has sent us. This is the calling. This is
our vocation. This is our life's work. God
has sent us here to be his witnesses. That's the purpose of our existence. The Lord gave us this purpose. Now let me show you three things
in our text, and I'll spend the bulk of my time on the first.
I'm asking Bill Rolla, you're my age, devote yourself afresh
today to the business of making Christ known. I said, Frank Call,
youngest member of the group, devote yourself. this day afresh
to making Christ know. Mother Merle, just about the
oldest, set your heart to this. To this. Oh, but pastor, we're
not pastors and missionaries and evangelists and preachers.
No, no, you're not. Mary Lou, I call you to the same
work. We're his witnesses. Our lives are to function for
no purpose but to worship Him and make Him known. And thus,
as it is written of David that he served the will of God, served
his generation by the will of God, so let us serve our generation
according to the will of God, preaching Christ to them. First,
let me talk to you about the reasons for it. If a man or woman
going to make such sacrifices of time, of labor, of effort,
of money, got to have some reasons. I'll give you seven. Number one, whatsoever you do, do all to
the glory of God. Now let me ask you, what compares
with that? What compares with God's glory? The one you've been talking to
us about for the last half hour. What compares with serving His
glory? What What are you going to put
in the balances to weigh with that? When you start considering
it, is this worth it? God, forgive me for the thought. Do all for the glory of God. Number two, turn to Mark 16 for a moment.
I ask you to look at two texts
in this regard. We have our orders from our commander-in-chief. It's called the Great Commission,
and the orders are crystal clear. We are, every one of us who are
born of God, to go forth into all the world preaching the gospel. These things described in the
Great Commission are given in all four gospels and in the Book
of Acts distinctly. The Great Commission, of course,
is set forth throughout the scriptures in many, many ways, but it is
specifically stated in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and the Book
of Acts, each one stating things a little differently. Matthew.
Emphasizes the authority of Christarchy, and he says all power, all authority
and all might is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore into all the world and preach the gospel. Mark,
turns around, tells us to go preach the gospel. And he lays
emphasis not on the authority and power of Christ the King,
but rather on the judgment of God and eternity. He tells us
he that believeth not shall be damned. And then Luke presents
the gospel, the Great Commission. the fulfilling of all the Old
Testament scriptures our Lord Jesus turn there if you will
Luke chapter 24 Luke 24 is walking with these disciples on the Emmaus
Road and Open to them the scriptures and then he meets with his disciples
in verse 46 and he says to them thus it is written and thus it
behooved Christ to suffer and and to rise from the dead the
third day. And that, watch this, that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are the witnesses of these
things. He sends us forth to preach. The word preach is to announce,
to proclaim. not to give advice for, not to
give counsel for, but to preach repentance and remission of sins
in his name. This is what John the Baptist
was sent to preach, repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
Now, men have got the notion that repentance is where to preach
to men, calling them and telling them to turn to God and their
sins will be forgiven them. But I believe there's something
wrong with that. That's not an announcement of good news. That's
giving good advice. We're commanded to proclaim repentance
and remission in the name of Christ the Lord. What's he talking
about? Proclaim the turning of God's
people to him by the obedience and death of his son and proclaim
remission of sins by that same turning by Christ having reconciled
us unto himself. We're sent to proclaim to men
God's salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus. In John's account
of the Great Commission, our Savior issues the commission
to us in connection with his commission from the father. He
said, as my father has sent me into the world, so have I sent
you. That means, Larry Brown, that
if you belong to the son of God, if you do, God sent you here
for exactly the same reason as he sent his son into this world. You mean, you mean we are workers
together with God for the saving of his people? That's what the
book says. Workers together with God. In the book of Acts, the Great
Commission specifically stated, is given as the program and purpose
of Christ's church. and his kingdom in this world.
Our Lord sends forth his disciples, commissioning them by the angel
saying, ye shall receive power. After that, the Holy Ghost has
come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem
and in Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the
earth. Here's a third reason. I call on you to devote yourself
to this work. Knowing, therefore, the terror
of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 5, verse 11. We persuade man. Oh, the wrath of God abides upon
you who believe not. Your sons and daughters are going
to hell. Your mothers and fathers are
going to hell. Your friends and neighbors and
your enemies are going to hell. We live amongst a generation
of people under the wrath of God going to hell. Let us love our enemies and do good to them who despitefully
use us. Now those are pretty sounding
words, aren't they? Then you hear preachers get on
television and say, God loves you, and I do too. Send me some
money. Charlatans. Fake is a $3 bill. To love your enemies, to do good
to those who despitefully use you, is to do what Stephen did when
Saul of Tarsus instigated his murder. And he's standing there
holding the garments of those who stoned God's servant Stephen.
You remember what he did? He preached Christ to them. He preached the gospel to them.
I don't know if anybody else heard it or not, but that fellow
standing there, holding the garments of those who stole them, heard
it, and he couldn't forget it, and God got him. And thus, Stephen
loved his enemy and did good to that one who despitefully
used him. Fourth, I urge you and urge myself
to this work. by the love of Christ. The love
of Christ constraineth us. Men and women by nature deserve
God's wrath. Men and women by nature are wrathful
children, children of wrath, even as others living in rebellion
to God, hating God with every fiber of their being. deserving
his everlasting damnation and justice in hell. You too! Everybody. Everybody. But if
any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things have passed away.
All things become new. And this is God's work. All things
are of God. For He hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. God sent his son down here and
laid our sins on his son and caused his son to suffer all
his wrath on our behalf that we might stand before God perfectly
righteous forever. And this fifth is the opportunity
we have. Look back at our text, verse
35. Say ye not, there are yet four months, and then cometh
the harvest. Behold, I say unto you, lift
up your eyes and look on the fields, for there are white already
to harvest. We ought to be motivated in the
work of preaching the gospel by the opportunity that each
succeeding day gives us. I know I can't convince other people to
have the same thoughts that I have, but Ron, I'm excited every day
I live. excited in anticipation of what
God might do today. Every day. Lord, what are you
going to do today? I wonder how you'll use this.
Wonder who's going to profit by this. I never wonder if. No, never. I know he's going
to use it. I know he's going to bless it.
I know he's going to honor his word. I don't have any question
about that. I wonder how. Sometimes he gives us a peek.
Sometimes just not much. Oscar, we couldn't stand much.
In reality, we saw much, but just a little peek once in a
while. Just once in a while. Our Lord Jesus said, Lo, I am
with you. All way. And I realized that that's poor
English. I am with you all way. And if
you've got one of the Bible's been best with folks today, it
ought to be always and they're wrong. It ought to be all way. Well, that doesn't make any sense.
It does. If you understand that his way is all one way. And his time is all one time. And this day is all one day. It is his day. And he's with
us all the way through it. In our text, the master speaks
in a parabolic manner. It's common for men to plow a
field and plant the seed. and then to look for the harvest
in about four months. You can just about bank on it.
About four months, that's when things start to come in. But
our Lord tells us in the work of the gospel, we must never
do that. We are to labor never with the
notion that the harvest is for another day. That's not the case. In spiritual things, We go to
labor in his vineyard with the expectation of immediate
results, an immediate harvest. Now, Brother Don, you just can't
expect that. Well, let's see. Turn, if you will, to the book
of Amos, chapter 9. Amos, chapter 9. We cast our bread on the waters. Knowing that it shall return
in due time But while we're casting now listen we go out and we cast
our bread on the waters All one of these days it's going to come
back. But but while we're casting the bread the fellow cast yesterday's
coming in We're casting our bread so that somebody else might come
out tomorrow and gather it in and the bread that was cast yesterday
while we're casting it is bringing in its harvest. We go forth in
the morning scattering the precious seed of the gospel with weeping
hearts, but we go forth with joyful prospect. The joyful prospect
of coming back today bringing sheaves of harvest. Who ever
heard tell of such a thing? Go out in the morning and sow
your seed Come back this afternoon carrying the sheaves of the harvest
in the load on your back. Look what God did today Well,
how can that be? Let's say that's the picture
given in the law and Leviticus 26 That's what we read in Psalm
21 26 and look at Amos 9 13. This is God's promise with regard
to this gospel day Behold the days come saith the Lord that
the plowman shall overtake the reaper. Now you try to get that picture
on the farm somewhere. The plowman shall overtake the
reaper and the trader of grapes, him that soweth the seed and
the mountain shall drop sweet wine and all the hills shall
melt. Here's the sixth reason. to motivate
us. Turn to Titus chapter 1. The purpose of God in election. God's sovereign predestination. Now let me ask you something.
Do you really believe that God Almighty has chosen some sinners
whom he will save according to his sovereign purpose. Do you
really believe that? Go preach the gospel to them.
Somebody told Mr. Spurgeon one time, said, if I
believed like you do about election, I'd just preach to the elect.
Spurgeon said, I will too. If you'll paint a yellow street
down there back, I'll just lift up the coattails and preach to
them. But since God hasn't marked the men in any such way, we preach
the gospel to all men and watch and see to whom God gives faith,
where God gives life, and those to whom God gives life show that
life by faith in Christ. Titus chapter one, verse one.
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according
to the faith of God's elect. Elect. Oh, you're not talking
about election. Let's talk about it more. Elect.
Do you know what word is used more than any other in the New
Testament to describe God's people? Elect. More than any other. Sometimes they're called saints.
Sometimes they're called Christians. Sometimes they're called believers.
More than any other, they're called elect. According to the
faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth, which
is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, I'm an apostle,
an apostle, a messenger of Jesus Christ, according to the faith
of God's elect, acknowledging God's truth in hope of eternal
life. Now watch it. Which God that
cannot lie promised before the world began. Promised to who? His elect. Well, how could he
promise that to you? You weren't around. Oh, yes,
I was. I was in Christ, my covenant
head, and God promised it to me in my Redeemer. Verse three,
but hath in these last times manifested his word, his word
of promise, through preaching. Through preaching. I'm here preaching the word,
the written word, preaching the word, the living word, preaching
the word, the word of God's covenant promise from before the foundation
of the world, preaching it. And as he calls out his people,
giving them faith in Christ, he makes manifest his word through
preaching, through preaching. I've been reading Richard Sibb's
work on the Smoking flats and the brews read and he made this
observation. I thought it's fantastic He said
all good things come through preaching All good things come
through preaching He makes manifest his word through preaching this
preaching which is committed to me according to the commandment
of God our Savior Now give you one more motive One more motive When the President of the United
States took office eight years ago, I won't refer to the present
one because I know not many folks really like it. Had I got elected,
I don't know. But when President Bush took
office eight years ago, any of you, Democrat or Republican,
any of you, who would not like to have been standing by his
side holding his coat when he took the oath of office. Anybody? Oh, man. I'll tell you what. If he'd called me, I'd have paid
my airfare, paid my room, and paid his, too, to go up there
and stand there and hold his coat. Who are you? I ain't nobody. He is. What are you doing here? I'm
just here to hold his coat while he takes office. takes possession
of the highest political office in the world. What an honor. And let me tell you something.
That ain't nothing. Unto me, who am less than the
least of all saints, is this grace given. that I should preach
to you Jesus Christ crucified. And you have this treasure, the
treasure of God's gospel in broken clay pots to carry this treasure
through the world. that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. Now, second, look at verse 36. Our Lord speaks about the rewards
that shall be given those who serve the interest of his kingdom.
And you know everybody's interested in rewards. Preachers motivate
with rewards. You do this and God'll put a
star in your yo-yo. Don't do that and God'll take
some stars out and you'll just have an old wooden yo-yo with
no paint on it. Nothing but papacy. Nothing on
this earth but purgatory doctrine, a lie. No, no. But there are
rewards to serving Christ. He that reapeth receiveth wages
and gathereth fruit unto eternal life. that both he that soweth
and he that reapeth may rejoice together. What's he telling us? The wages we shall receive are
the souls of men. What is our hope or our joy or
our crown of rejoicing? are not even ye in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. It will be worth it all when
we see Jesus. There will be no complaint of
any pain or any loss or any labor any lack of sleep, any weariness
of the journey, any hurt, any difficulty. When at the coming
of our Redeemer, I see your faces in his glory. And this fruit we gather is everlasting. It is fruit unto eternal life. People say, don't take yourself
too serious. Tell preachers, don't take yourself
too serious. I tell preachers, start taking yourself real serious.
And I say to you, start taking yourself real serious. That which
we do in the cause of Christ has an everlasting benefit. to the souls of men, and is an everlasting display
of the glory of God. Now, look at verses 36, 37, and
38, and let me speak to you just a moment about the reapers. He
that reapeth receiveth wages and gathers fruit unto life eternal. that both he that soweth and
he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true. One soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon
you bestowed no labor. Other men labored and you were
entered into their labor. Three things here. God's servants are all one. All of them. All God's people
are one. All God's servants are one. Serving
one cause, with one interest, with one hope, with one expectation. Second, it doesn't matter whether
we sow or reap. God forgive us. We like to be
seen, don't we? Look at Brother Don. Man, would
you look at the load of sheaves he's carrying. Look at Brother Mahan, what's he doing out there? He's
just got a little bag of seed. What foolishness. God give me
the seed and I'll sow it with honor. Or if you'd have me to carry
the sheaves, I'll carry the sheaves. Or if you'll have me to open
the door, I'll open the door with honor. The fact is, those
who sow and those who reap both sow and reap. And third, he who sows and he who reaps are alike insignificant. Paul's nothing. Apollos is nothing. Peter is nothing. God giveth
the increase. Oh God give us grace then in
this day of harvest faithfully to serve our Redeemer. Amen.