Not Ashamed of the Gospel: Becoming Christ’s Laborers

First, I want to start for a moment and ask you if you remember what was going on nine years ago today. Anybody remember? Nine years ago today. We’ve been together for nine years now.

Does anybody remember the first sermon that I preached in this pulpit? Scotty, what was it? Very, very good, yes. Out of Romans 1:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”

I’m thankful that we’ve had nine years so far. I look forward to what God is going to do in this next year. But I’m thankful for His Word, and I’m thankful for the fact that hopefully you are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you’re not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it is that very gospel that saves. It is that very gospel that frees from sin and gives life. That very gospel.

And in Matthew, in our gospel text today, as we read from it, I want us to see a key here that hopefully we as the church, we as individuals who follow Jesus, will grab hold of.

Now I want to start by saying that Jesus did not call greatly learned and studied folks. He did not call young seminarians from the Jewish seminary. He called ordinary, everyday people to come and to follow Him. And then He gave them a task.

If we go back to Matthew 9 and we go down to verse 35, we see that Jesus went throughout the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. And when He saw the crowds, He had—what is that word? Oh, wait a minute, He gave you a voice. What word? He had compassion.

What does compassion mean? What does compassion look like? What does it do? He had compassion on the people. Why? Because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Have you looked around this world today? Have you looked at the state of everyday people today? Have you looked at the younger generation? We sit back and we see this mass of people going every which direction, lost in their own self, seeking only their own gain—harassed, helpless, and like sheep without a shepherd. Much of this world is like that.

And because of that, and because of the compassion Jesus already had for the lost world, and because of what He was already doing, and because of the fact that He knew the Father’s plan—“I’m not going to be here much longer. I’m going to do what God has sent me to do. I’m going to die for the sins of the world. I’m going to be buried. I’m going to be resurrected. I’m going to sit at the right hand of the Father”—but the plan doesn’t end there.

Because I’ve been walking with this group of twelve now, purposefully, because now they’re getting ready to have to carry the work. Carry the work.

So, verse 37: “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His field.’”

To send out laborers into His field. Who are those laborers? Is it restricted to just the preacher types that He’s called? Is it restricted just to us who have felt the burden and responded to the burden of the call to pastor?

Actually, biblically, in our role, we’re to give much time to study and to prayer and to teach—to teach you for the preparation and the sake of ministry. Ministry doesn’t belong just to the pastor; it belongs to the whole of the body.

But Jesus has called and said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” And in today’s world, the harvest is still plentiful. Within our own neighborhoods, within our own families, there are many who need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ so that they may have His grace, His salvation.[Attachment]

Last week we talked about how faith plus hope equals love: godly love, not the love of the world, but the love of God. Now today we see that that love—the love that Jesus had, the love of the Father exhibited through Him—produces a compassion. A heart that cares for those who are lost and gives us the energy to fulfill the call that Jesus places on our life, right?

Let’s go back through some basics. Turn over to Romans 10. We were there for a little bit last week. I want to take us back to Romans 10. Romans 10 is a reminder.

I want to say to you that God is a God of order: in the way that He has created, in the way that He set things up. He is a God of order in the way that things are meant to be. And in His execution of His plan, He’s a God of order. In that order, He has made it so that there should be followers of Jesus who, after Jesus returns to His right hand, would go forth with the good news of Jesus Christ into the world.

Let’s start in Romans 10 at verse 9:

“Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

There’s the purpose and the reason why we should go out: because God’s grace is afforded to all who believe. When Jesus was here, He sent them out to the Jew first, but then also to the Gentile.

“For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

Now that word “preaching” doesn’t mean in the sense of what I do on Sundays, but it means simply being told—somebody going out.

If I’ve heard what’s happening with the Hurricanes once, I’ve heard what’s happening with the Hurricanes a hundred times. Everybody’s talking about what’s going on with the Hurricanes—the hockey team, right? But what if we went out with that same passion about what Jesus has done for us and is continually doing in this world?

If we had that same zeal—and that’s what this word is talking about—to go out with great zeal to tell folks what God has done for them, right?

“And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”

Are we doing our jobs? Are we doing our job as a church? Are we sending? Are we preparing and are we sending? Not just preachers for the pulpit. Not just the missionary for the foreign field. But are we preparing our people to be that witness, that word that goes to the people right here around us?

That’s our job. That’s what the Lord is preparing for you and for me. And now my job is to prepare you that you may go and take that gospel to those around you.[Attachment]

The 13th chapter of Matthew—turn there. The 13th chapter of Matthew. There’s been a lot of discussion around my ministry over the years, asking the question, “How is it that you’re successful in ministry? How is it that growth happens? How is it that good things are working?”

You know, it’s from obedience to Jesus. It’s from obedience to Jesus.

The ingredient for me, in the place that I’ve been set, in the call that I received, was to be one to come and to teach and to encourage the outward flow of ministry. The flow that causes growth does not happen when a church stays inside behind the walls. It only happens when its people decide, “I’m going forth as Jesus said, and I’m going to share it,” in hopes that others will grasp hold of Jesus.

And the formula is this: I don’t go expecting that if I bring a hundred people to the Lord that a hundred people are going to show up at church. I go with the expectation that, “Hey, if I’m obedient to Jesus and I do what He’s called me to do, and I share the gospel, and He brings the increase, then He will place people where He sees the need.” And ultimately, in that obedience, He also blesses the place where you’re at. Always He does this.

But they can’t hear without somebody being sent. Chapter 13 of Matthew is about a sower. Jesus uses this. Start at verse 3:

“And He told them many things in parables, saying: ‘A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.’”

Now a lot of times people preach on this parable and they talk about the soil—the soil of the heart. But I’m going to tell you, the real attention in this passage is that a sower went to sow. If the sower had not gone to sow, the seed would not have fallen upon any soil. And if the seed had not fallen upon any soil, there would be no hope for any growth at all, no person to be brought unto Christ.

It’s the sower. The sower going forth with the seed. The Christian going forth with the Word.

Everybody you tell about Jesus is probably not going to take root and be brought to Christ. But none will if you don’t go forth with it. If you don’t go forth with the Word of God, none who are in your path will hear it. It is your effort to go forth with the Word of God.

Are we doing that? Are we doing that? Because there has to be a sower. That is God’s order of things. How do they hear if someone is not sent? Someone’s got to be sent. Someone’s got to be sowing the seed, sharing the good Word. And it works every time.[Attachment]

Matthew 28—most of you know that. God’s words through Jesus at the very last before He rose to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Verse 18, chapter 28:

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

Pastor, I don’t have the education to go out and do that. No, but you’ve been given the authority of the One who is the Word of God. He who has all authority has commissioned you to go in His name, to take His Word, to present it to those who are lost, like sheep without a shepherd, to make a difference, to bring life.

Now, I have examples. I’m going to flip to them right quick. I’m not going to keep you all day. I could—this would be a good one right here; we could go for a long time. But let’s go to Acts. Let’s go to the third chapter of Acts, and we’re going to be reminded of these things. Perhaps today you’ll go and sit back down and look more closely at these passages.

If you look at Acts chapter 3—what happened when the disciples were obedient? When the disciples said, “Yes, Lord, we will do this”? Not like in the Old Testament, where they said, “Yes, we will do everything that you have said,” and it worked for a little bit, and then they decided to go back and do their own thing again. Then they come back again and say, “Yes, Lord, all that you have said we will do.”

We find ourselves like that sometimes in the church in America. We say yes, and we do for a little bit, and then we go back to our own thing. That’s not where He wants us. He wants us in obedience.

These guys, after they had waited as Jesus told them, and after the Spirit came upon them and equipped them, moved on to fulfill all the things that Jesus was asking them to do.

Look at Peter and John in the third chapter: the lame beggar. The guy who’d sit by that gate every day of his life because he couldn’t walk. Peter and John happen by that gate, and the guy was sitting there begging alms. He says, in essence, “Hey, can I have some coin here? I’ve not been able to do for myself.”

Peter and John look at him and say, “Silver and gold have I none; but what I have I give unto you. Rise up and walk.” And the man got up and he walked, and he caused a stir.

Those disciples were given the ability to do some of those things because right there at the very beginning of the church they needed something supernatural to get people’s attention. Is God going to afford you the privilege of being able to say to somebody sitting in a wheelchair at the rest home, “Rise up and walk,” and then they walk? He might, if it’s His will, if that’s what He’s wanting. But He might not.

What He does want for you to do is for you to show compassion and love and tell them about what Jesus has done for them. Because perhaps their healing is not in this world, but in the next, when they receive a new body and a new life. But God can still do all things. He could do the other.

In chapter 4, Peter and John are called before the council because they have been obedient to Jesus and done what Jesus told them to do, and it has produced results, and they’re being questioned: “By what authority are you doing this? How are you able to do this? Who told you you could do this? This is outside of the bounds of religion. Why are you doing this? This is not how we do.”

They ask the question down in verse 7: “By what power or by what name did you do this? Did you stand this lame man up, and he’s walking and leaping and praising God? How did you do that?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them:

“Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you well.”

You see, they knew where the power came from. They knew who it was that was doing the work. They just had to be obedient.

The fact is, if we will go with the Word of God, we may or may not see change in people’s lives. But God has the power to do so, and He will respond to your obedience to carry the Word. Watch Him work. Watch Him work.

Not everybody you go to is going to be raised up in new life. Some will receive it. Some will receive it.[Attachment]

The eighth chapter of Acts—I’m going to paraphrase this one for you. Again, I encourage you to go and read it. Philip—this is the eighth chapter. Here it is: obedience again.

Verse 4 of that eighth chapter: “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the Word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did.”

Then you go on down in that chapter and the Lord directs Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch, who was looking at the book of Isaiah and didn’t understand what he was reading. The conversation ensued, and Philip explained to him what Isaiah 53 was saying. The eunuch received Christ. He said, “Can I be baptized now? Here is water.” “Sure you can.”

Philip was obedient to what God had told him to do, and Philip listened with his heart to what the Holy Spirit was leading him to do. We’ve had that conversation about the grocery store thing—where you’re standing there, and your attention is directed to somebody, and something inside nudges you, and you go and help that lady with her cart, or help that person. It’s real. When the Holy Spirit turns your attention and starts talking to you in your heart, listen to Him. Be obedient to Him. Do what He’s asking you to do and watch what happens, because the Lord does marvelous and miraculous things.

Even Paul—I had down here an example of Paul. Paul being set among the educated, who were there debating and discussing God among all of these statues set up representing all the different gods. They were debating which was right, this, that, and the other, and there was one statue there that said, “To the unknown god.” These wise folks were sitting there talking, and Paul got into that conversation.

Now Paul was a very wise man, but how many times are we sort of afraid to insert our voice in a conversation when it seems like maybe those folks know more, they’re more educated, and we think, “I don’t know how to respond to that”? God will lead you. He will lead you in conversation. I promise you He will lead you in conversation.[Attachment]

Now, the other point that I want to get to is that it didn’t just stop with the twelve. If you go to Timothy, I want you to go over to Timothy with me—to First Timothy and then to Second Timothy.

In First Timothy, we’re going to be at the very end. Do you remember how Paul knew Timothy? Timothy’s mother and grandmother had been around Paul and had worked some with Paul, and he knew them well. All of a sudden, here’s a young man who’s being raised up in truth and knowledge, and Paul recognizes this. Paul recognizes that there may be a call on this young man’s life. That’s when Paul starts pouring into him. Paul’s pouring into him. Paul is doing a thing that the church doesn’t always do well, called discipling. He is growing others to go forth with the Word.

At the end of the first letter encouraging Timothy—the one that Paul will put to work taking the good news—at the very end of that, starting at verse 20 in chapter 6, he says:

“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called ‘knowledge,’ for by professing it some have swerved from the truth.”

He’s saying, “Man, hold that truth to be precious, and don’t let anything change that truth that has been given to you.” Sometimes when folks go out, they want to bend that truth a little bit so this person feels a little more loved and accepted. But bending the truth doesn’t help. It is fully the truth of God which changes hearts and changes minds.

And so we deposit to you. I do my best to try to deposit in you the truth of the Word of God, so that you may take it and you may be a Timothy. You may go forth with it and give that trusted, valuable Word of God to others, that it may change their life.

In the second letter to Timothy, in the fourth chapter, the charge is given to Timothy. And I want to share that charge with you today, because you, if you love Jesus, are now qualified to go forth in His name and to share the good news with all the people that you meet.

Hear these words from Paul to Timothy, and from this pastor to you:

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”

Because you all have ministry. You all are ambassadors for the kingdom. You all are called to go and to share and to live and to be the witness of God’s love shown forth in Jesus Christ.

Will you go? Will you share? Will you do? It is God’s design, and He has included even you in this work.

Pray with me.

Father, we are thankful. We’re thankful for the good news. We’re thankful for Jesus Christ. We’re thankful for His resurrection. We’re thankful, Father, that You have made us, in the eyes of God, righteous and co-heirs to the kingdom—brothers and sisters, able to call You Abba, Father.

And Father, we’re thankful that Jesus sends even us in His authority, with His Word, and with the power that goes behind it, to go into this world and to share with everyone the good news that they too are loved by God, and that God can change and save and redeem and heal, and that for all who call upon the name of Jesus Christ, He will save.

So, Father, we pray today that You will make of us the church that You have called us to be—not just the church of the inside, but the church that moves outside. Father, not for the glory of this congregation, but for the glory of the Father who sent You and for the glory of what You have done.

You even told us, Jesus, that “If I be lifted up, I will draw all unto Me.” So Lord, give us the compassion to go out and to care enough for the lost to share the message. Give us the excitement. Give us the energy. Lead us, that we would be found doing that which You call us to do, that we would be obedient to Your call—to go, to share, to sow, to witness.

For this we ask in Jesus’ name. And everyone said, “Amen.”