Okay, Amen. Right, we're in Matthew chapter 9, and I just want to look at those last few
verses again. So Matthew chapter 9, if you don't have a Bible, don't worry, just listen
up and listen to the verses. If you do have a Bible, you're near someone with a
Bible, then by all means have a look down at Matthew 9 and from verse 35, Matthew
9, 35, where we see, it says this about Jesus in verse 35, Jesus went about all the
cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of
the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 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, but the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send forth
laborers into the harvest. And the title of my sermon for you guys this
evening is laboring in Malawi's harvest. Laboring in Malawi's harvest.
I'm going to pray quickly as well, then we're going to get started. Father, thank
you for your word, thank you for this nation of people ready to
receive the gospel, to hear the gospel, to work for you, Lord. Please help me to
just preach this message just clearly and accurately and boldly and fully in your
spirit, Lord. Help everyone here to just have attentive ears. Help me
to just encourage people to want to labor for you, Lord, and just don't pray
Amen. Okay, so there are two truths that can apply to these verses of Matthew 9,
these last verses here. These are the two truths. Number one is that the
multitude it's talking about here are the unsaved needing the shepherd. Okay, so
that's truth number one that maybe they're just the the unsaved and they
need a shepherd. And there is ultimately one real shepherd. In John 10 11, Jesus
said, I am the good shepherd. Okay, he said the good shepherd giveth his life
for the sheep. And there are a lot of people, you know, waiting to get
saved, waiting to receive the shepherd. Okay, and here that's what it's talking
about. Maybe that's truth number one. A lot of people waiting for that, but
sadly the laborers are few. Okay, the laborers are few to give the gospel, to
preach that gospel. Keep a finger here if you have a Bible and turn to Romans
chapter 10. Romans 10. So without laborers going out and preaching the gospel,
no one's getting saved. If people don't go out and show the good news and
preach the gospel to the lost, no one would get saved. Okay, Romans 10 and
verse 13 says this, Romans 10 13 says, for whosoever shall call upon the name
the Lord shall be saved. Now that's the simplicity of salvation isn't it?
The simplicity of the gospel is that if you call on the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ with faith you're saved. Okay, if you call in faith you're saved.
That's it. Saved, done, dusted, you're going to heaven, nothing could change that.
That's why Christ died on the cross, to pay for all your sins. It's as
simple as that, you just need to call on him. However, look at verse 14,
how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? So someone needs to go forth and preach the gospel
don't they? Someone must go forth, how shall they hear without a preacher?
That's a question, a rhetorical question, and the answer is it's not happening.
Without someone going forth to preach the gospel people aren't getting saved.
Keep a finger here and go back to Matthew 9, but keep a finger in
Romans 10 if you've got a Bible there. We're going to go back to
Matthew 9 and just remind you what Jesus said. He said in verse 35, and
Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every
disease among the people. 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, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the
Lord of the harvest that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
So option number one is that the multitude here are the unsaved.
Option number two, option number two is that the multitudes are the saved,
but they're scattered without leadership. So these people are saved
is option two. They've heard the gospel, they've received the gospel,
but they don't have any leadership. They're without the under-shepherds,
and the under-shepherd ultimately is a pastor is what we use now.
Leaders, they're scattered around without leadership. The seed's been successfully
sown and the harvester's already come is a way you can look at it.
The harvest is plenteous, but there are few labourers, there's few leaders
to lead them, which ultimately results in less salvations in the long run.
Back in Romans 10, if you kept a finger there in verse 15, it says,
And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written,
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things. So do you know that people need
to be sent out to preach the gospel? And whether that's from a church
thousand miles away, it's from your pastor, their presence sending you out,
ultimately that's the best way because you're more likely to keep it up
in the long run. We've known many people over the years
that have got involved with a bit of soul winning, started trying to teach
people and preach the gospel, and then they've disappeared.
They've gone because they're not being sent. You need sending,
you need to gather together and be sent out to preach the gospel.
Now, which one of these should be applied? Is he talking to the unsaved
that needs saving or is he talking to the saved which needs shepherding
after salvation? Well, when I look at Malawi, if I compare this to Malawi,
I would say that both will apply here pretty shortly, if not already.
There are multitudes of unsaved ripe to harvest people in Malawi.
Okay, we've experienced that already. You go out here, you go just walking
around the school and kids want to hear the gospel, they want to get saved.
Let alone out in the streets, people just want to hear the gospel.
There's many of people ripe, ready to be saved. And there are multitudes
getting saved this week. Okay, so there are many people that over this week
will be getting saved that already be getting saved over the last day,
and even last week, there was a bit of soul winning going on as well.
There are multitudes of the unsaved, like I said, ripe to harvest.
But then as well, the soul winning laborers are few.
And there are multitudes maybe getting saved, but there aren't many laborers out there
from those people that will then go on and carry on getting people saved.
And potential laborers in the ministry are even fewer.
Okay, people that are potentially able to just basically serve God in the long run
and want to do that are even fewer.
So the laborers are few in both ways, you could say.
The harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
The title is laboring in Malawi's harvest.
So point number one, why is the harvest plenteous here?
So if any of you are sitting there wondering, why have we come to Malawi?
You know, what is it about Malawi? Why is the harvest plenteous in Malawi?
You know, it's much easier for us.
You know, I don't know if you know,
but most of us here have gotten two flights to get here.
We've gotten an airplane stopped somewhere else.
A lot of us stopped in Ethiopia.
Don't ask Lucky about Kenya, because he'll probably get a bit of angry responses
from him with that.
But look, it's been a long journey to get here, right?
We've come here for a reason.
I'll tell you why we've come here.
Because the harvest is plenteous in Malawi.
Okay, now why is that?
Well, look at verse 36, where you are in Matthew 9, and it says,
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted and were scattered abroad, a sheep having no shepherd.
Then saith he unto his disciples, the harvest truly is plenteous,
but the laborers are few.
So why does Malawi have so many being harvested and so many ripe to harvest still?
Why are people so receptive to the Gospel in Malawi?
Turn to Matthew chapter 5.
Matthew chapter 5, if you have a Bible there.
For me, there are a few reasons that Malawi is so blessed.
And just get a hold of that word for a second there.
This is a blessed place.
This really is, this is a blessed place,
which is receptive to the Gospel,
which means it is a very blessed place.
Okay, you've turned to Matthew 5.
Matthew 5 is a Sermon on the Mount,
which starts with what's known as the Beatitudes at the beginning.
Okay, now the key to understanding the Sermon on the Mount
is to understand that he's preaching to the majority saved.
When you study the Sermon on the Mount,
you see actually he's talking to the saved,
and especially at the beginning,
that helps you to understand the beginning as well,
and even many other parts in it.
Sometimes he gives like a hypothetical,
he's talking about people as a general,
oh man, and then other times,
he's just talking to the saved,
to his multitudes of disciples there.
Look at verse one, in Matthew 5, it says,
And seeing the multitudes,
he went up into a mountain,
and when he was set, his disciples came unto him.
It's his disciples.
And he opened his mouth and taught them,
saying, some people like to go to Matthew 5
and teach, you know, a non-work salvation,
but he's talking to his disciples,
he's talking to the saved.
Okay, this is what he taught them.
Now, this isn't just the 12, by the way,
in case you're wondering,
they hadn't even all joined at this point.
This is just his many disciples,
there were many disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ,
people following him, it wasn't just the 12.
Okay, there's obviously also the 70
sends out two by two later as well,
but here it's just a multitude of people
that are following him.
He then gives what seems to be contradictory statements
followed by the explanation.
So verse three, the contradiction seems to be,
blessed are the poor in spirit,
that seems to be a contradiction.
Then he gives the answer,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
He carries on, blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall seek God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Why are all these unlikely people blessed?
Because they're the saved, because they're saved.
And if they're not saved,
the people there he's talking to are a lot of these people
and if they're not, they're more likely to get saved.
Who are these people?
Well, ultimately it's them that he's talking to,
the disciples.
He then says in verse 11, blessed are ye.
He's talking to them.
When men shall revile you and persecute you,
as you'll say all manner of evil against you
falsely for my sake,
rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven
for so persecuted day the prophets which were before you.
So with that in mind,
let's see some of the unlikely blessings,
the things which are actually blessings
for those that are either unsaved or saved
and therefore it's been a blessing.
Because what a lot of this, what basically this is,
these are people receptive to the gospel.
All these different types of people
are people that are receptive to getting saved
and once they're saved,
you could also add they're more receptive
to going on and living and being discipled by God as well
as a general rule.
What does it mean when it said here,
blessed are the poor in spirit
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, that was verse three.
Why are they blessed being poor in spirit?
The parallel passage, you don't have to turn there,
but Luke 6 20 says,
and he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said,
blessed be ye poor for yours is the kingdom of God.
So it's not that their spirit is poor.
That's not what he's talking about here.
What he's talking about is their eternal soul,
the spirit there being in their eternal soul.
He's basically saying the poor are blessed
in spirit being in their eternal soul.
You don't have to turn a bit, in Acts 7 59,
they stone Stephen and he's calling upon God
and saying, Lord Jesus received my spirit.
They're poor, but they're blessed in their spirit or soul
because they're going to heaven.
Why is he singling out the poor here?
Because many of his disciples
would have been poor by normal standards.
The fact that they're poor actually means
that they're much more likely
to get saved in the first place.
Did you know that?
Turn to Proverbs chapter 18.
And compared to most nations in the world,
Malawi, I'm sure this is no shock to anyone here,
it is considered to be a poorer nation
compared with many in the world.
It sits as apparently the seventh poorest
on one list I saw in 2023,
according to the World Bank,
over 70% of the population
was estimated to be living below
the international poverty line.
Now, anyone who goes soul winning knows,
and I'm talking to our church members here
just for a minute,
we know that as a general rule,
the poor are much more receptive.
When we go out to preach the gospel,
we go to places in England
where people are generally not as rich.
Shall I tell you why?
Because rich people are cursed.
They're cursed because they're going to spend
eternity in hell.
Because they're usually so prideful,
they trust in their riches
and they don't want to receive the gospel.
We knock on doors of people
that claim to believe the Bible,
who are very wealthy,
and they don't even want to hear it.
They don't want to know that,
they don't want to hear a thing,
they, I think I'm good enough
to slam the door in your face.
Do you know it's a blessing,
it's a blessing to not be like that
because you're much more likely
to receive the gospel.
Why is that?
Well, Proverbs 18, 11,
Proverbs 18 and verse 11 says,
the rich man's wealth is his strong city
and as a high wall in his own conceit.
So he sees it as a high wall,
he sees it as a protection,
is what it's talking about.
He thinks that he's safe, okay?
Now some might think that they're blessed,
but whatever it is,
pride just increases with wealth.
Wealthy people, rich people
are usually very prideful.
They think they're great,
they think they've got it all,
and the pride goes up here.
Turn to Mark 10.
That's why Luke 6 24 says,
but woe unto you that are rich.
He said, woe unto you that are rich,
for ye have received your consolation.
Do you know the vast majority of rich people,
their consolation for the whole of eternity
is those small riches they have
in their small little pathetic lives here,
where all they care about
is money, money, money, money,
and then they go to hell for eternity.
What a waste of life.
What a sad, sad waste of life.
Woe unto you that are rich, he said.
The rich, they love the pride
that comes from other religions though.
Do you know the rich love a workspace salvation?
So we knock on doors and we speak to people a lot,
and you know, a lot of rich people are Roman Catholics,
because they love to believe
that they're one of the good people
that's going to heaven.
A lot of rich people love other religions.
In England, it's the Anglican church,
the Protestant church,
and they love to believe
that them going to church on a Sunday
and they're such a nice person
means they're going to heaven.
They love the pride of works religions,
but they don't like the gospel.
They hate the gospel.
Some of them shout at you and scream at you
when you try and teach them
that going to heaven is a gift.
They hate it,
because they like to believe they're good enough.
They like to believe they can earn their way to heaven.
He said, woe unto you that are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
So, have a look at Mark chapter 10.
Did I tell you to turn to Mark 10?
Turn to Mark chapter 10.
Mark 10.
And we're going to look from verse 23.
Mark 10, 23.
Mark chapter 10 and verse 23 says this.
And Jesus looked round about
and saith unto his disciples,
how hardly shall they that have riches
enter into the kingdom of God?
And the disciples were astonished at his words,
but Jesus answered again and saith unto them,
children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches
to enter into the kingdom of God?
It is easier, check this out.
It is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
It's easier for a huge camel
to go through that tiny little gap
in the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
And they were astonished.
Verse 26 had a measure saying among themselves,
who then can be saved?
And Jesus looking upon them says,
with men it is impossible,
but not with God for with God all things are possible.
So of course they can get saved.
God can do anything.
Look, ultimately the gospel,
the good news can even get a rich person saved,
but it's just much more unlikely
because those that have riches
usually trust in their riches, okay?
They think that the fact they're wealthy
maybe means they're already so blessed,
they must be going to heaven.
Or they just don't even want to think about it
because they're just so happy,
trusting and enjoying
and dwelling upon their riches and chasing money.
Why is the harvest plenteous here?
Because there are more of the blessed poor.
It's a blessing.
But back in Matthew five,
it then said this in verse five,
back in Matthew five and verse five,
blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Now another word for meek,
we might use the word humble as well.
And of course the saved should be described as meek.
If you're saved, you should be described as humble.
But it at least requires a meek moment
to receive salvation in the first place.
You have to accept your need of a savior.
Now, we don't want to get carried away with this
because some people, you could start to think,
I'm saved because I'm just so meek.
No, that's not what it's about.
Oh great, I didn't even know we had lights.
Thank you.
That's helped my eyes out a lot there, okay?
I was starting to squint.
Okay, so look, being meek,
being humble is needed at a point.
Now there's a point in everyone's life, I believe,
hopefully, where they're humble enough
to receive the gospel,
you just pray that they'll receive it at that point,
they'll hear it at that point.
But being a meek person means you're much more likely
to be in that humble position
when you receive the gospel.
Turn to Psalm 119, one, one, nine.
We're going to be constantly coming back to Matthew five
for this passage, at least for now.
Now, of course, the rich are rarely meek, okay?
But there are other reasons too.
Career success.
So whether you're rich or not,
if you've been at least to some degree successful
in your career,
that could be a stumbling block to salvation
because it makes you prideful.
Sporting success.
I know people love the idea of someone
who's in the world's eyes,
who's this big sporting hero
will get saved and preach the gospel.
Do you know what the chances are?
Very slim.
Because they're so prideful usually
from being at the top of whatever it is
in their particular world.
Success in various fields,
you can imagine other things like that.
Even good looks.
Some people, if they think they're so handsome
or so pretty,
it can make their pride go up
and they find it harder to receive the gospel.
Family bloodlines and race and things like that,
people get prideful about these things,
whatever it is at the time.
Whatever the fashionable race is,
whatever the fashionable so-called family is
or whatever background they come from
can lift up their pride
so they won't hear the gospel.
All these things and more can stop someone being meek.
Look down at Psalm 119 and verse 21.
Because the Bible says that the proud
are cursed.
Like the rich are cursed, the proud are cursed.
Psalm 119 verse 21 says,
thou has rebuked the proud that are cursed,
which do err from thy commandments.
So this is a name for those that reject God
really to the point of being a reprobate.
These are people that cannot believe.
They've been given over to a reprobate mind.
They're also called the proud in the Bible.
Unable to put their faith in Christ,
they're cursed because of their pride.
Psalm 119 and verse 51,
one of the distinguishing features
is pride of these people.
Look at verse 51 in that Psalm.
It says the proud have had me greatly in derision,
yet have I not declined from thy law.
They even persecute God's people.
They hate God's people because they're so proud.
They hate the gospel
because it shows that they're not good enough
to get to heaven.
Verse 69 there says the proud have forged a lie against me,
but I will keep thy precepts in my whole heart.
They even tell lies about God's people.
Psalm verse 78 says,
let the proud be ashamed,
for they dealt perversely with me without a cause,
but I will meditate in thy precepts.
Verse 85 says the proud have digged pits for me,
which are not after thy law.
These people hate God.
They hate God's people.
He said as well in verse 122,
be surety for thy servant for good.
Let not the proud oppress me.
And let me tell you where there's a distinct lack
of what there is a distinct lack of in this nation.
People walking around full of pride.
I don't see that.
When I'm driving across Malawi the last couple of days now
and everyone else to say the same,
there's not all the people walking around like this
with their noses in the air,
thinking they're so great walking around,
wanting everyone to look at them, women and men.
You should see it in England.
That's how people walk.
You've got women walk down the road like this.
You've got men walk down the road like this.
It's honestly, and do you know what?
Those people, you want to try preaching the gospel to them.
They hate it.
They're like, I'm a good person.
I'm going to heaven.
You're like, what on earth?
While they're standing there
with a can of beer in their hand
and whatever, it's crazy.
But that's just sadly, that's what pride does.
It makes you, it's so much harder to receive the gospel.
Now, Psalm 34, you don't have to,
oh no, turn to Psalm 34, sorry.
Turn to Psalm 34.
The pride being, pride is just a hindrance.
It's a big hindrance to salvation.
I see a lot of people here that are meek
who have a humble or contrite,
we might say as well, spirit.
Psalm 34 and verse 18 said,
the Lord is nigh unto them.
That means he's close unto them
that are of a broken heart
and save as such as be of a contrite spirit.
And whether it's physical saving or eternal salvation,
the Lord's closest to those that have some humility
in both aspects.
If you're saved and you get prideful,
you start going further from God.
Look, you're still saved,
but you just end up not as close to God
in your walk with God.
And if you're unsaved and you're prideful,
it's that much harder to get saved,
to be at a point in your life
where you're going to have the humility to get saved
and to accept your need for a savior.
Why is the harvest plenteous here?
Because there are more of the blessed meek.
There are more of the blessed meek.
Turn back to Matthew five, where it said in verse six,
Matthew five, six said,
blessed are they which do hunger and thirst
after righteousness for they shall be filled.
And I'm just picking some of these here,
but you can apply all of these
to receptive places to some degree.
Where does ultimate righteousness come from?
Well, go back to Psalm 119.
Sorry, I should have said keep a finger there.
I did have it in my notes.
I thought it was in there.
Go back to Psalm 119.
I just want to show you one more verse.
From Psalm 119 and verse 172.
Where does ultimate righteousness come from?
Well, Psalm 119 and verse 172, 172 says,
my tongue shall speak of thy word
for all thy commandments are righteousness.
This book is righteousness.
All his commandments are righteousness.
It's from the word of God.
And something else I see here already in Malawi
is people that hunger and thirst for the word of God.
They want the word of God.
They want to hear the word of God.
I spoke to a class and I said,
if I showed you from the Bible, the word of God,
how to be saved, would you believe it?
They're like, yup.
Because they hunger, they thirst,
they want to hear the word of God.
Maybe it's because they haven't had the decades
of mockery of God's word
that so many Western nations have had.
I don't know if you're aware of that,
but in nations in England and others,
they mock God's word.
They laugh at God's word.
They try and claim it's a load of old nonsense.
They don't know a word about it.
You read the Bible through once,
you cannot claim it's nonsense.
It's amazing.
It's God's word.
It can't have been written by men really.
Ultimately it was written by God through men.
It's so amazing.
But there's a mockery of God's word.
Maybe it's because they still,
maybe here you still have enough attention span.
If you know what I mean there,
you have the ability, the concentration still to read it
long enough to realize that it is God's word
because in a lot of Western nations,
because they just stare at the TV all day
and they play video games all day,
they can't actually focus on anything
that's not just going like this
and they can't concentrate.
They find it hard.
They need a, if it's a video,
it has to be maybe one minute maximum.
That's why they do one minute shorts on YouTube
because people can't keep the attention
for more than one minute.
Suddenly they have to do something.
They have to do something.
They have to play something on a game or something.
Maybe it's because of that.
Maybe Hollyweird, or we call it Hollyweird.
Hollywood, the music industry
haven't infected this culture enough
to embrace the unrighteousness.
So maybe people here are still craving righteousness
because they haven't been poisoned
for decades and decades and decades
by Hollywood, by the Jewish music industry,
the Jewish media system and everything else.
But whatever the reason, okay,
people here respect the word.
They do, I've noticed that straight away
they respect the word of God.
They want to hear the word.
And when you want to hear the word,
you're more likely to get saved, aren't you?
Because you respect it's the word of God.
And if a soul winner, someone with the gospel,
with the truth comes up to you,
shows you that the Bible says
that you're saved by a gift.
That for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves it's a gift of God,
not a works, it's any measure of both.
When you see that in the word of God
and you respect the word of God
and you hunger and thirst after righteousness,
you're much more likely to then get saved, aren't you?
You're much more receptive to the gospel.
Go back to Matthew chapter nine now, Matthew nine.
The title is laboring in Malawi's harvest.
Point number one of, why is the harvest pentious?
Question number one,
because there are more of the blessed poor,
there's more of the blessed meek
and there's more of the blessed
that crave the word of God.
Point number two, is what a blessed place, okay?
So point number two is, why are the laborers few?
Why are the laborers few in such a blessed place?
Well, look at Matthew nine and verse 35.
It said, and Jesus went about all the cities
and villages, teaching in their synagogues
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom
and healing every sickness
and every disease among the people, verse 36.
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, but the laborers are few.
So we've got this plenteous harvest
and whether that's people ripe for salvation
or just now saved people
and going up forwards this week,
especially with all the labor that's going in this week,
why is it Malawi full of soul winners?
Why is it Malawi full of people preaching the gospel?
Why isn't Malawi full of prophets, true prophets,
evangelists, pastors, teachers?
Why are the laborers few?
Well, turn to Luke chapter 10.
The answer is in the question.
The answer to the question, you turn to Luke 10.
It's because it's labor, because it's work,
because it's graft, because it's labor.
It's because it requires work, time, effort,
energy, commitment, money too sometimes.
You say, but what could be better
than getting salvations?
Surely if you're saved, if you're a believer,
what could be better than preaching the gospel to people,
pulling people out of the fire?
What can be better than getting people,
like we have today, multitudes of people
and pulling them out of the fire?
Well, think of the farming analogy.
The first day of harvest is exciting for a farmer,
isn't it?
Imagine you're a first time farmer.
Imagine you've just planted your first field
and the harvest comes.
Even just a couple of plants, it's exciting, isn't it?
If anyone's ever tried to grow any plants
and you see the harvest comes, it's exciting.
But as those days draw on, as the years go by,
the excitement wanes and it requires
a bit more motivation, doesn't it?
You talk to a farmer of 30 years
who's been farming their whole life
and that first day of harvest,
I don't think they're just skipping along,
go, whoa, look at this, this is amazing!
They might have done on the first year,
they might have done on the second year,
but the excitement starts to drop a little bit.
It requires more motivation, it requires more discipline
to keep doing the graft, to keep doing the work,
to keep reaping the harvest when it comes,
which is usually a hard bit of work
at the end of all that labor.
It's the same with soul-willing.
It's the same with preaching the gospel.
It's the same working in the ministry at first.
First, the excitement is there.
At first, it's an exciting thing, it's great.
You think it is amazing, look,
I've got another person saved, I've got another.
This is great, look at these people getting saved, et cetera.
Maybe you're seeing things,
maybe as a preacher, you're seeing lives change,
you're seeing people grow,
you're seeing the work going on
because of the preaching, it's exciting.
But with time, the edge goes a little bit.
That's just life, and you become maybe desensitized,
and that for many is when the excuses come in.
When the excitement wanes,
when they're not quite as excited to get each salvation,
when it becomes a bit more of a normal thing for them,
maybe the excuses come.
That's when maybe the tract dropping becomes easier.
It's a bit easier than knocking on the doors,
a bit easier than preaching the gospel, which is tiring.
You might have seen a few of us guys,
any of you guys here today,
maybe working up a bit of a sweat in those classrooms.
Well, it's a bit easier to just give out a leaflet
and say, well, I'm sure they'll get saved off a tract.
Well, the Bible says faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
It's by hearing it preach, not by reading it.
But maybe the tract dropping,
maybe then it's easier just to send some money
to a foreign missionary to some guy somewhere
and go, look, we're doing some foreign missions
because we're giving them money, we're partaking in it.
So there are people, you'd be amazed.
There are people all over the world.
There'll be people in Malawi and similar nations right now
receiving money from all different churches
around the world to sit there and give out some tracts
and run a couple of church services
and they don't go out and preach the gospel.
They're not doing anything.
A lot of them are just learning a language for 10 years.
They don't even speak the language
of the nation they've gone to.
And then the problem with that,
when it's easier to do that stuff,
it's easier to have a map on the wall
and just take some credit
for the people you send some money to.
That's when the most likely laborers
maybe then also get distracted.
So they can get lured into going,
well, do we have to go out there?
You know, I had a zeal for it,
but there's already someone there.
They're already doing, I'll just send them some money
and then get distracted trying to earn more,
get richer, all the stuff in life that distracts people.
The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches
and the lusts of other things coming in, choke the word
and it become some fruitful.
That's people, that's so many people
that are saved that maybe have a bit of zeal.
And then what happens is all the lusts of the world,
all the different temptations,
stop them going out and doing a labor for God.
Mark 4.19, that was by the way that I quoted you,
but don't turn it, you're in Luke 10, go to Luke 10.
It's labor and that requires genuine laborers, okay?
It's labor to do things, to go and preach the gospel,
to work in the ministry, to do all those things.
And Luke 10 says this in verse one,
after these things, the Lord appointed other 70 also
and sent them two and two before his face
into every city or place, whether he himself would come.
Therefore said he unto them,
the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few.
It's labor, work.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
that he would send forth laborers into his harvest.
So he didn't say to pray for some guys
that fancy a holiday somewhere warm, did he?
Pray for some holiday makers.
He didn't say pray for some guys to do a language study
and a bit of voluntary work somewhere,
doing some nice things with people, building a few things.
He didn't say pray for that.
He said the laborers, that's the grafters,
people that want to put some effort in,
who are there to work in the harvest.
He said, those are few.
And then he gave us another reason.
He said this in verse three, go your ways behold.
I send you forth as lambs amongst wolves.
Why are the laborers few?
Because there are false prophets everywhere.
That's one of the reasons the laborers are few.
Fake Christians with their false gospels
and their fake churches, they're everywhere.
And what they do is they prevent true labor going on.
The laborers are few
because there's false prophets everywhere,
all over this place are false prophets.
And they hinder the work of God's people.
They're thieves, they're robbers.
They steal sheep
and they lead them into false doctrine as well.
So it's not just the ones that are obvious.
It's like, look, you've got some obvious false prophets here.
When we come out of the airport,
they had a big sign saying pastor shepherd.
I mean, he used both words.
He claimed he was a pastor and a shepherd,
or I think it was pastor, a prophet shepherd.
So prophet shepherd.
So who is this guy?
And do you know what he is?
He's just another guy wants the money, wants the cash.
He's teaching a lie.
He's teaching a false gospel, a work salvation.
And these guys are everywhere.
They're everywhere in this station.
When we got here,
there was Jehovah's Witnesses pulling up
in the car park at the airport.
There was Catholic priests walking out off the plane.
They're everywhere.
Okay, you've got false prophets everywhere around here.
They're fakes, they're liars.
They're leading people to hell.
But there's also the subtle ones.
The ones that just want to take the sheep
once they are saved.
They want to lure people into a false church
so they don't go on to labor.
They attack soul winning.
So they start to make excuses
for why they should do less soul winning,
why soul winning is not so important anymore.
They attack the gospel.
Little subtle attacks sometimes
like calling on the name of the Lord.
Like eternal damnation in hell.
They find little ways of attacking the gospel.
They attack genuine laborers as well.
Okay, so what they do is they then start slandering
other men of God to make it harder
to find like-minded people, et cetera.
And they're everywhere.
In 1 John 4, 1 we're told,
Believe not every spirit,
but try the spirits whether they are of God
because many, many false prophets
have gone out into the world.
If you believe the Bible,
you have to believe that there are false prophets
everywhere because it said
many have gone out into the world.
And they come in various shapes and sizes.
Okay, they come in various disguises.
They come in various outfits.
They come in various ways and various means.
And they make the labor that much harder.
It's that much more of a struggle
to reap the harvest
when there are false prophets everywhere.
Why are the laborers few?
Because it's hard work and the work gets hindered.
You're battling with false prophets.
You're battling with false church.
You get people saved
and then they want to go back to the false church.
They want to go back to the comfort of their buddies,
the comfort of their family.
They want to go back to the lure,
the temptation that somehow they get richer
or that the other feel good stuff.
Just because someone's saved
doesn't mean they're going to go on to labor
in the true gospel.
It just means they're saved.
Go back to Matthew nine.
The title is laboring in Malawi's harvest.
Number one, why is the harvest plenteous?
Because there are more of the blessed poor,
there's more of the blessed meek
and there's more of the blessed
that crave the word of God.
Number two, why are the laborers few?
Because it's hard work
and the work is constantly hindered.
And number three, why will he hear our prayers?
Why will he hear our prayers?
Matthew nine, it said in verse 35,
Jesus went about all the cities and villages,
teaching in their synagogues
and preached the gospel of the kingdom
and healing every sickness
and every disease among the people.
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,
but the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore,
the Lord of the harvest
that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.
So we've got this plenteous harvest, okay?
In Malawi, we're referring this to it,
we're comparing this to right now,
but few laborers.
Jesus said to pray for God to send more laborers.
And wouldn't it be great
to have teams of soul winners in Malawi?
Wouldn't that be great?
Can you imagine if there was
more than one team in Le Longue,
there was teams in Blantyre,
they're just teams all over Malawi.
To have teams of soul winners,
to have missionaries here planting churches
to go out, not just to the whole of Malawi, but beyond.
Wouldn't that be great?
Wouldn't it be great to have that?
To have these, just to have people just out,
just doing loads of just legitimate soul winning churches,
setting up all over Malawi and beyond
in the rest of these sort of borders
of maybe central and eastern and southern Africa,
just churches popping up everywhere,
legitimate churches, wouldn't that be great?
People getting saved en masse in a place
and in a region of the world
where people are receptive to the gospel
at this point in time.
Well, he said in verse 38,
"'Pray ye therefore.'"
He said to pray,
"'Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest
"'that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.'"
We're told to pray for laborers,
but what will help make sure
that our prayers are heard and answered?
What will help ensure that?
Well, turn to Isaiah 59.
Do you know what the answer is?
It's us.
It's God's people in Malawi,
those here that are saved,
those here that go on to get saved,
answering the call and doing what God commands us to do.
Okay, God commands us to do something.
Isaiah 59.
Now he wants to hear, okay,
he wants people to be saved,
but it says in Isaiah 59 in verse one,
"'Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened
"'that it cannot save,
"'neither is ear heavy that it cannot hear.'"
Look, God wants to hear your prayers,
but your iniquities have separated
between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you
that he will not hear.
It's our iniquities, it's our sins,
God's people he's talking to here.
It's our iniquities,
the sins that prevent our prayers being heard.
And let me tell you an obvious sin,
the most obvious sin,
not soul winning, not soul winning,
disobeying the Great Commission.
It's the Great Commission, it's the first works,
it's the first love,
it's what God commanded his people to do.
It's the work that his children have been given to do.
Turn to Matthew 28 while I read some other verses.
Your turn to Matthew 28,
Mark 16, 15 says,
"'And he said unto them,
"'Go ye into all the world
"'and preach the gospel to every creature.'"
Luke 24, 47, he said,
"'And that repentance and remission of sin
"'shall be preached in his name among all nations,
"'beginning in Jerusalem.'"
And in John 20, 21 it says,
"'Then said Jesus to them again,
"'Peace be unto you as my Father has sent me,
"'even so send I you.'"
And here in Matthew 28 is a Great Commission in full.
It says in verse 18,
"'And Jesus came and spake unto them saying,
"'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
"'Go ye therefore and teach all nations,
"'baptizing them in the name of the Father
"'and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
"'teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
"'I have commanded you,
"'and lo, I am with you always,
"'even unto the end of the world, amen.'"
How can we expect God to hear our prayers
if we're disobeying such a clear command?
If we want God to send forth laborers into the harvest,
do we expect him to hear us
if we're not following his command?
The clear command there is to go and preach the gospel,
it's a Great Commission.
You don't have to tell them,
but in John 8, 31 it says,
"'Then Jesus saith to those Jews
"'which believed on him,
"'If ye continue in my word,
"'then are ye my disciples indeed.'"
He was talking to those that were continuing in his word,
they were going out and preaching the gospel.
You want God to hear you,
you want to be a disciple,
you want to have that close connection with God,
you need to go out and preach the gospel.
"'Then saith he unto his disciples,"
here in verse 37 of Matthew 9,
he's talking to the people
that are continuing in his word,
"'The harvest truly is plenteous,
"'but the laborers are few.
"'Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest,
"'that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.'"
He's talking to disciples,
he's talking to people
that are doing what he wants him to do,
and he's telling them to pray.
He's not telling just the unsaved multitudes
who aren't doing nothing,
he's telling his people that are closest to God
to call to God and say,
"'Send more laborers.'"
And that's something that if you're solvening,
you can do, right?
We should all be praying for Malawi, shouldn't we?
We're out here, we're preaching the gospel,
in a place that is amazingly receptive.
Will it be forever?
Probably not.
Is it right now?
Yep.
Does it need more laborers?
Sure it does, doesn't it?
It needs more and more and more people out here,
whilst we're solvening out here,
let's pray, and if you're here,
or you listen to this in the future,
and you're here and you're not solvening,
get solvening.
Get solvening, then get praying.
Why will he hear our prayers?
Because we're laboring, because we're working,
because we're continuing in his word.
The title was Laboring in Malawi's Harvest.
Why is the harvest plenteous?
Because there are more of the blessed poor,
the blessed meek, and the blessed
that crave the word of God.
Why are the laborers few, though?
Because it's hard work,
and the work is constantly hindered.
Why will he hear our prayers, though?
Because we're already laboring.
So let's all labor and keep praying, right?
Let's labor and pray for Malawi right now,
and do a great work here,
and encourage others to do the same.
That was Laboring in Malawi's Harvest,
and on that, let's finish in that word of prayer, yeah?
Father, I thank you for this nation, Lord,
this nation of blessed people, Lord.
I thank you that we're able to be here,
to preach to them, to preach not only the gospel,
but to try and encourage them to live for you, Lord.
And we pray right now,
we just pray that you send more laborers
into this harvest, Lord.
It's a plenteous harvest.
There are so many people here,
not only that are ripe to get saved there,
now more and more people getting saved,
but we just pray for laborers to come out here,
to get involved, to get in the work.
We pray for those people that are safe
to labor, Lord, as well.
We pray for them to,
we pray for leadership here in the future.
We pray that you just do a great work here
for us to be able to just inspire these people,
these safe people here onto great things,
for us to be a real blessing here, Lord,
beyond just getting people safe.
What a blessing that is,
but we want to inspire more work to continue here as well.
Lord, please help us to do that.
As we go about the rest of this week here, Lord,
help us to get many people safe,
and help many to then return on Sunday
and to choose to be baptized, Lord, as well.
Something that we know that you command your children,
you command those that are saved to get baptized.
Help us to encourage those to get baptized, Lord,
to be convicted by your word to do that.
Help us to all get home safe for sound this evening
and to be able to return on Sunday
for the Sunday services.
In Jesus' name we pray all of this.
Amen.