SEEING THE HARVEST THROUGH HIS EYES

Matthew 9:35-38

Intro: The Barna Research Group has been involved in gathering and analyzing information concerning the church since 1984. Many of their findings are startling and eye-opening. They have found that 33% of Americans are unchurched; they have no church affiliation whatsoever. While it found that 20% of those who have church members believe that living a good life will gain them a place in heaven. Given those two statistics alone, that tells us that 53% of Americans are lost and on their way to Hell. This does not consider the people who are atheists or are involved in occult forms of worship. Over half of everyone you run into is lost. Moreover, it is a growing population. More and more people each year are added to this category. Furthermore, if we were to throw all the false professors that do go to church into the mix, it would probably be 75% or possibly much higher, which, by the way, is the percentage Jesus referred to in the parable of the soils.

     That is why Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous.” There are people to reach; there is work to be done. One of the greatest dangers of the modern church is that we don’t see this as the most important work. Almost everything else comes before the work of reaching the lost with the Word of God.

     As Jesus ministered to the needs of the people all around Him, He met their physical needs, but He was able to see beyond just that. Jesus was able to see the deepest needs of their hearts. As Jesus looked at the multitudes around Him, He was moved with compassion for them. This word literally means “to be moved in the heart.” He saw the reality of the need of the people all around Him. He saw them as they were, and He sought to share this insight with His disciples. He still wants to share this insight with you and me this evening! He wants us to see the plight of humanity as He does. He wants us to see people as they really are. He wants us to be moved in the heart just as He was. He wants us to be able to see the harvest through His eyes. That is the thought I want to magnify this evening. I want to preach for a few minutes on this thought: Seeing The Harvest Through His Eyes! May the Lord help us to see the lost people around us as He sees them!

  I. (V. 36) HE SAW THE PITY OF THE HARVEST

A. When Jesus looked at the lost people around Him, He saw them as they really were. He saw the pain, the loneliness, and the misery they felt in their hearts! He was able to look beyond the facades of self-sufficiency, self-righteousness, and self-confidence.

Jesus saw a people who “fainted,” that is, “grew weary” under a load of their sins and the unrealistic expectations forced upon them by their religious leaders. He saw people who were “scattered.” Literally, “to be cast down or thrown out.” People wandering through life with no direction and planned destination lived life with no shepherd for their souls. He saw people who were utterly and hopelessly lost.

B. Oh, how we need to see the multitudes as Jesus saw them! Over here is a family. They seem happy. They have good jobs, plenty of money, a nice house, and everything this world can offer them. Plenty of people like that live in these communities around this lake. However, if you could look into their hearts, you would see turmoil, fear, loneliness, and desperation. They have no answers to their questions. They need the Lord!

Here is another family. They don’t have as much as the first family, but they do work and have a place to live. Their lives are driven by alcohol and drugs. They seem hard to the Gospel and are antagonistic toward those who try to tell them about Jesus. Nevertheless, if you could rip aside the layers of their lives and peer into their souls, you would see people who are afraid to die and even afraid to live. They are people without hope, and they need someone to see them as they really are. Someone who can see them as they are and still love them that is the person who can reach them for Jesus!

C. Those kinds of comparisons could go on forever, literally, but what Jesus really saw was the end of these people’s existence. He knew that without a relationship with Him, they were all doomed to perish in Hell. That is what we need to see tonight about our friends, neighbors, and families. They may look like they have it all together, but if they are lost, they are headed to Hell, and they need to be saved by the grace of God! Can you see them as they really are this evening? Can you see them as He sees them? He knows their condition, yet He loves them still. May the Lord help us to see the harvest through His eyes!

 II. (V. 37) HE SAW THE POTENTIAL OF THE HARVEST

A. Jesus looked at the crowds around Him, and He saw a “plenteous.” harvest. I am sure all the disciples saw were people pushing and shoving to get close to their leader. However, Jesus saw more! He saw men who needed to be saved by grace. He saw a harvest that was ripe for the picking! He looked beyond their condition and destination, and He saw a people who could be delivered, changed, and saved! He did not see the problems, only the potential!

B. What do we see when we look at the people all around us? Do we see sinners lost in their filthiness and vileness? Do we see people who live like dogs and don’t care? Do we see people as they are, or do we see them as the Lord could make them if they came to Him? That is the view Jesus had of lost men. He saw them not as they were but as they could be by grace! We need that same kind of vision if we reach men in this day and time! (Ill. Slightly inebriated man I saw at the store yesterday!)

C. One day, Jesus stood with His disciples outside the city of the Samaritans. Now, the Samaritans were a people despised by the Jews of Jesus’s day. The Samaritans came about through the intermarriage of Jews with the colonists whom the Babylonians sent to live in Israel. Jesus went to a city of the Samaritans and spoke to a sinful woman. He saw her not just as she was but as she could be through grace. He saved her, and many Samaritans were also saved because Jesus looked at the harvest as being everywhere and plentiful. His words to the disciples in John 4:25-41 are exciting!

D. I am trying to get us to understand this truth: There are people all around who need Jesus! The harvest is truly is plentiful. Many are ripe for the picking. We merely need to see it and do something about it! May the Lord help us to see the harvest through His loving eyes.