But the Laborers are Few

“After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.’” (Luke 10:1-3 ESV)

We who believe in Jesus Christ with genuine God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-10; John 6:44), who are followers of Christ (Luke 9:23-26), who have been crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Romans 6:1-23; Ephesians 4:17-24), are also God’s holy people called of God to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (Matthew 28:18-20; 1 Peter 2:9; Acts 1:8).

And the harvest is plentiful, for the majority of the world population does not believe in Jesus Christ. And probably the majority of those who make professions of faith in Jesus Christ, at least here in America, do not believe in Jesus with God-given and God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, for their beliefs do not line of up with the teachings of Christ and those of his New Testament apostles. For so many of them have not died with Christ to their sins, and thus they have not been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness.

So the harvest is plentiful, but not just among those professing no faith in Jesus Christ, but among all those who profess faith in Jesus but whose lives are not surrendered to doing the will of God, for they are still living for the flesh, to please the flesh, and they are still conformed to the ways of this sinful world, and not to the ways of God and his holiness and righteousness. For Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and that we might live for him and no longer for self. For he died to redeem us out of our lives of slavery to sin so that we will now honor God with our bodies.

So, why are the laborers so few in our day and time? I believe it is because so many professing Christians do not believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ, but their faith is of the flesh, and of man, and not of God, and so they lack commitment to the Lord and to his service and to doing his will. And so many of them are so captivated by the world and by the teachings of humans which are not biblical, that so many of them do not see the need for them to share the gospel with others because they themselves are not living the gospel that Jesus Christ taught, in practice.

And then, among those who are sharing “the gospel,” so many of them are sharing a flesh-driven diluted and altered gospel message which also alters and dilutes the character of God/Christ and of his true church, the body of Christ, and which ignores and/or which vilifies the gospel message that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught because it offends the ungodly of this world and because it requires the forsaking of their sins and obedience to God and to his commands in holy living.

And so the masses are largely being fed lies and not the truth, and they are hearing messages which tickle their itching ears and which do not call them to turn from their sins to follow Jesus in obedience to his New Covenant commands. And a lot of these messages are coming, not just through sermons, but through cartoons, movies, memes, and advertisements, such as the “He Gets Us” AD. But there is so much twisting of truth and deception and manipulations and misimpressions being guised as the true gospel.

Thus, those who are sharing the gospel that Jesus taught and that his NT apostles taught, in their appropriate context, are few, indeed. And those of us who still hold to the tenets of the Christian faith and practice are now regarded as old fogies, or as judgmental, liars, legalists, and the like. So we are, indeed, being sent out as lambs in the midst of wolves, and many of those wolves serve as pastors of institutional and market-driven and flesh-driven “churches” (human-based businesses). 

So, what is the message of the gospel, in a nutshell? Well, first of all it is that God the Father sent his only begotten Son Jesus Christ to the earth to be born as a baby to a human mother, but conceived of the Holy Spirit. So while Jesus lived on this earth he was both fully God and fully human. And when Jesus grew to manhood he had 3 to 3 ½ years of ministry on the earth before his enemies had him hung on a cross to die as though he was a common criminal. But it was in God’s plan and purpose that Jesus should die on that cross, for in his death he put our sins to death with him so that we might be delivered from our slavery to sin and walk in fellowship with him.

Now Jesus said that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives. But if for the sake of Jesus we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life with God. But all this comes from God, and even the faith to believe in Jesus is not of our own doing, not of the will nor of the flesh of man, but it is gifted to us by God and it is persuaded of God, and so God gets all the glory, not us. But the result is us dying to sin daily and walking in obedience to our Lord.

And then there is one more part. If we should make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, but if we do not deny self, and if we are not crucified with Christ in death to sin, and if sin is what we practice, and not obedience to our Lord, and not righteousness and holy living, then we are not in true relationship with God/Christ, we do not know God/Christ, and we are not born of God but we are still of the devil. And this is not saying that we will be absolutely perfect, but that the Scriptures teach our faith and salvation as something requiring habitual faithfulness to our Lord in walks of holiness and in obedience to our Lord as required for salvation and eternal life with God.

[Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 5:16-21; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 10:23-31; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]   

The Lord’s Anointed  

An Original Work / December 16, 2011

Based off Isaiah 61

The Spirit of the Sov’reign Lord on me;

Anointed to preach the Good News;

Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted;

Proclaim freedom for the captives.

He sent me to preach release for pris’ners

Who are walking in sin’s darkness;

Proclaim God’s grace to all men who’ll listen;

And tell them about God’s judgments;

Comfort all who mourn;

Give crowns of beauty;

Oil of gladness and thanksgiving. 

They will be called oaks of God’s righteousness,

A planting of our Savior, God,

For the display of our Lord’s splendor, and

They will rebuild God’s holy church.

God will renew them, and will restore them,

And you’ll be called priests of the Lord.

You will be ministers of our God, and

You will rejoice in salvation.

The Lord loves justice;

He is faithful to 

Reward those who are seeking Him.

I delight greatly in the Lord;

My soul rejoices in my Savior, God.

He has clothed me with His salvation,

And in a robe of His righteousness.

He has given me priestly garments to wear, 

As the bride of Jesus Christ.

As the garden of our Lord and Savior, 

He causes us to grow in Him.

He makes righteousness, 

Praise, and thanksgiving

Spring up before all the nations. 

https://vimeo.com/114836524