Let us worship our God, our Maker this morning; let us give Him praise that is due to Him; let us magnify His name, He’s the reason why we are alive, let’s worship Him, let’s glorify Him, let’s magnify this God, worthy of praise, worthy of honor, worthy of adoration, give Him glory this morning, give Him praise, give Him honor, give Him adoration.
Worship your Maker, He’s the reason why we are alive, He’s a name we live, He’s a name we move, He’s a name we have our being, give Him praise today, give Him honor, you are alive because of Him. It is already 147 days in this year, give Him glory for that, give Him all the praise for sustenance, for protection, for mercy, for provision, give God the glory today, give Him all honor, power, might.
Glory belongs to Him, He’s the most blessed, most glorious, Ancient of days, worship Him, glorify His name, give Him all the thanks. That you are standing here alive, well, able to see, no ache, no pain, give Him all the praise; all glory, all honor belong to our God, blessed be Your name oh Lord; glory, honor, power, praise and majesty belong to Your name alone, in Jesus name we have worshipped.
Eternal Father we thank You, thank You for 147 days of 2024; thank You for how You’ve kept us, how You’ve protected us, how You’ve defended us, thank You for the last Sunday in the month of May, glory and honor, power, praise and majesty belong to Your name alone, accept our praise and thanks today in the mighty name of Jesus.
Lord, as we go through Your word, Father speak to us Yourself, let Your children hear from You; Father, let them receive something of immense benefits today so that when they leave here, let them leave holding something good in their hands in Jesus name.
Anoint their ears to hear You clearly, anoint the lips that will speak Your word and let Your name be glorified. Father we promise that we shall give all glory and honor back to Your name in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You eternal Father, blessed be Your name King of kings, in Jesus name we prayed.
Welcome to church this morning! I want to appreciate our Pastor in Charge of Province for this opportunity to bring the message this morning, I pray that God almighty will continue to bless you, sir and continue to uphold your ministry; God will bless your family, your wife and children, and I pray that God almighty will continue to prosper and bless all members of the pastorate in the mighty name of Jesus.
This is the last Sunday in the month of May, and May (for us) in this mission has been month of emphasis on evangelism and we are going to be talking today on the Explosive Growth Drive. I believe in most of our pulpits today in the RCCG will be speaking along this same topic, and the topic for our discussion this morning is “Pray for More Laborers”, and we’ll take our text from Matthew 9: 35 – 38.
“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. 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.
37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; 38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest”. Praise the Lord!
Two keywords here – pray, laborers, we’ll look at them later. Prayer is very essential for our explosive growth drive; I believe we all know about it now, maybe those who are new in this church will get to know about it as we go along.
Prayer plays a vital role in the advancement of God’s kingdom as it aligns our hearts with the will of God and empowers us to be effective laborers in the harvest field. By praying for more workers as we are enjoined to do today, we partake in God’s divine plan to bring salvation to the lost, praise God!
As we know, Bible tells us in Deuteronomy 32: 30 that one can chase a thousand, two can chase ten thousand; so there’s power in teamwork, there’s power in cooperation, there’s power in collaboration. Some of us are loners, the type that love to work alone, we love the preeminence, we love to be in front, we like to do things on our own, but I need to let you know that no matter how brilliant you are, you can do better if you have the support of others.
Support comes in many ways, it can be spiritual, it can be physical; even in the one man sport like lawn tennis, boxing, you need a team of dedicated trainers and other support people. So our main passage today describes Jesus’ work amidst the people of His time; our Lord went about healing the sick, preaching the gospel; later, we see in the passage, He felt compassion for the people because they were scattered like a flock of sheep without a shepherd, praise God!
And there is something instructive about sheep, Jesus Christ described those people as sheep without a shepherd, He did not describe them as goats. I’m sure in this part of the world we know the difference between a sheep and a goat: a sheep is teachable, a sheep can be controlled; goats (especially those native goats) can be very stubborn, praise God! You chase them away, they will come back, so that’s instructive and we’ll look at that also as we go on.
At this point, He told His disciples to pray to God to send more laborers; God is still asking us – asking you, asking me to pray for more laborers even in this generation, that is still the outcry of God, it was at this point from the account of the gospel according to Matthew (that we read) that the twelve disciples were formerly commissioned, this we can see in Matthew 10: 1 – 16; we can also see similar account in Mark 3: 13 – 19, Luke 6: 12 – 16, similar accounts of what happened in Matthew 10: 1 – 16, praise God!
So it was like Jesus at that time was feeling that there was a need for a structure; before that time, if you look at the gospel of Matthew again, He had healed the daughter of the leader of synagogue, He had healed the woman with the issue of blood, He had healed the man with leprosy and then He now came to this stage where He felt that there’s a need for a structure.
There were disciples all around Him, but it was at that time He now appointed 12; He called the 12 and gave them the same assignments we are being called upon to take on in this growth drive; we have been told that our major task is to get people to be aware of the need for salvation, and after salvation, the need to live holy and consecrated life that brings glory to God; we are to replicate ourselves in others, for what purpose? So that all men can come to the saving knowledge of our God, because people can say why am I doing this? It’s so that all men can come to the saving knowledge of our God.
Like I said earlier, ‘pray, laborer’, keywords here; who is a laborer? Ordinary English dictionary described a laborer as someone who is employed to do heavy usually unskilled physical work. But in the time of the Bible, the term was used for agricultural workers; you know the time of Jesus was an agrarian society, that’s why there’s always a reference to sheep, to fig tree, to olive tree, to vineyard, so the term is a term used for agricultural worker, it denotes action or active zeal in contrast to useless business, there can be useless business, praise God!
So laborer denotes action or active zeal; it is God’s work through men, it means serving. The basic meaning is serve; the word ‘work’, you know here, we’ve been using the word laborer and worker interchangeably, the word ‘work’ really connotes stewardship; when we are talking about sending laborers, stewards to the vineyard of God, it does not denote servile- labor, so a laborer is a person of prayer, we labor more in prayer than in servile work.
It’s not about carrying cement, it’s not about going around the street 1:00 in noonday sun talking to everybody you see, it’s more about laboring in prayer and every other way. So a laborer is a person of prayer, you need to pray for more laborers like yourself.
The other word ‘prayer’, what is prayer and why should we pray for the harvest? Scriptural prayer (because there can be prayer that is not scriptural) is a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God; it’s an act of communication by humans with the holy God; is an earnest request or wish. When we pray, we engage in loving fellowship with the Maker of heaven and earth, it is a raising of one’s heart and mind to God or the requesting of good things from God, so it’s actually communication with God and it can be anywhere once you are properly communicating with God.
And as we know, there are many forms of prayer – thanksgiving, petition, praise, intercession and supplication, but we are concerned today with supplication, and I believe supplication is an acknowledgment that we cannot help ourselves; surrender to God, there is Somebody higher than me that can help me, that is prayer in form of supplication. We need a superior being to help us, that’s when we make supplication and that’s why we are making prayers to God today and according to our message today to send laborers for the harvest; man cannot do it by his power, no government can decree it into effect – not just to say send laborers to the vineyard, all of you go and be evangelizing, praise God!
If Pastor says here today, we are closing this service, all of you go to Admiralty, go and be witnessing to souls, I’m sure about half of us will go back home to take breakfast, so you cannot decree it, you can only pray that God will send laborers to His vineyard.
Why should we pray for the harvest? We need to pray because we have been commanded to do so, it’s a command, Matthew 9: 35 – 38 that we read, Jesus said pray for more laborers, so it’s a command of Jesus Christ, not to do so will be working in disobedience and we know what it means to be disobedient, Bible says it’s a sin of witchcraft, so not to pray for laborers is indulging in witchcraft.
Number two, we pray because there’s an urgent need. The harvest is ripe and it will be rotten and lost if we don’t pray, John 4: 35, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest”.
Number three, our prayer (when you pray, when I pray) will open the door for the gospel, Colossians 4: 3 – 4, “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: 4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak”. That was Apostle Paul speaking there.
Number four, many are confused or many are in a confused state and are undecided, our prayers will help them take the right decision. Those who are in confused state, they don’t know what to do, our prayers will help them take the right decision, Joel 3: 13 – 14, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision”. People are indecisive; our prayer will make them decide for the way of the gospel.
Number five, our prayers supply utterance to the speaker of the message of salvation; it gives them the spirit of boldness, the evangelists need our prayer to be effective, the ones that go about ministering to souls need our prayer to be effective, Ephesians 6: 18 – 20, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak”, so they need it, they need support from us, the evangelists need our prayers.
Number six, refusal to pray diligently is a surrender to the enemy. If you refuse to pray, you are surrendering to the enemy, praise God! Luke 18: 1 says men ought always to pray and not faint; the one that is not praying is fainting, praise God! And 1st Thessalonians 5: 17 says we should pray without ceasing; as you pray and as I pray for God to send more laborers, we need to ask Him to make us a more effective laborer and I’m assuming you are one already; we need to ask for grace to be a true and dedicated laborer in the harvest, if there are more laborers, the work will be accomplished faster and better, the burden of the lone and weary laborer will be reduced and more grounds will be covered.
Jesus Christ our Savior in Matthew 9 saw the need for more laborers, that is God as man, competent to do anything, so what about you and I? He wanted more people, He needed a team to work with Him, praise God! And each committed laborer adds strength, passion and zeal to the mission, making a significant impact on the spiritual landscape.
When we join hands together, we make more impact on the spiritual landscape, and the kingdom work requires urgency, imagine a field of tomatoes ready for picking (I’m picking tomatoes because I know we can relate with that more, these are things we can see), the crop must be picked immediately or they will become rotten and lost for good.
Each tomato or vegetable is worth money to the farmer and is anxious to get them picked for sale before they are ruined. A typical farmer – tomato is ripe, he’s anxious so they can be picked up before they are ruined; now imagine that the laborers in his farm remain complacent and refused to do their work, instead, they grumble about hunger and low wages – they want minimum wage, they are complaining, oh, this man is bad, this man is this, the farmer will look for more laborers and do away with the uncommitted workers, may that not be your portion in Jesus name. May God not found us so complacent that He would look for other laborers, praise God!
So let’s imagine that you are a farmer, tomato is about to be ruined and it’s time for harvest and your workers are complaining, this man is not paying well, he only pays us ₦30,000 per month, we want more, we are hungry, we want to eat, praise God! So it’s important that the man will definitely send them out, get new laborers. I pray that God will not send you out of His vineyard and get new laborers in Jesus name.
So if you understand the urgency of the harvest, if you prepare for the task, if you show faithfulness and fervently pray for the additional hands to join the work, then we align ourselves with the act of God for the list and participate in His redemptive plan for humanity. And I pray that you and I will embrace this calling with zeal and dedication, knowing that the harvest is indeed truly ripe and time for action is now, praise the Lord!
I’m about to conclude but I want to conclude with this story: I know there’s a bit of time and that’s why the story is very important; as we conclude, the most important part we have to play apart from praying for souls is to live a victorious Christian life, it is the fruit that sells the tree (and I will explain what I mean by that soon).
I read in one of my devotionals that I use daily, Tuesday, 21st of May about this account – fruits selling the tree, I can paraphrase but let me just read for two minutes so that you don’t miss any part of it: the fruit sells the tree, a nursery owner – what is a nursery? You know we see all these horticulturists, the gardeners, when they plant (we see them along the streets here) flowers, they put them in these small black bags, that’s a nursery; the plants are meant to be transplanted in your house, praise God!
So this person was a nursery owner and she wants to sell mango trees (they actually said peach but I’m using mango so that we can relate with mango and orange more than peach). I know some of us know peach but I know we can relate with mango and orange, she considered many approaches, should she line up the living samplings in the sack (the way these gardeners do) and display them in a beautiful way? Should she create a colorful catalogue picturing those trees in various seasons of growth? At last, she realized what really sells a mango tree are the mango fruits. The sweet smelling deep yellow and nice mango juice, that’s the best way to sell a mango tree.
The best thing to do is to pluck a ripe one, cut it open until the juice of the mango or orange drips down your arm and you add a slice to a customer, when they taste the fruit, they want the tree, praise God! Don’t mango and orange trees look attractive? And you want to sell one that is just like about this height (very short), how do you sell it? The way you sell it is to get a ripe one from the market, cut it open, give it to the person, let him taste the mango/orange, it is that fruit that will sell the tree, praise God! What you enjoy from taking the mango/orange that will sell that tree, otherwise, the green thing on the ground is not a flower, is not attractive like this, not like your rose in the garden that you can see (even) growing up that is going to be nice. The mango/orange tree looks unattractive especially when they are still small, but when you give somebody the fruit, they see the benefit of buying the tree, praise God!
So God reveals Himself in a wrapper of spiritual truth for His followers – love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5: 22 – 23), those are the fruits of the Spirit. When believers in Jesus exhibit such fruits, others will want that fruit as well and therefore will seek the source of the fruit that is so attractive,
When they see your gentleness, meekness, love, they are attracted to your God, that’s the emphasis about living a victorious Christian life. In addition to praying for laborers, your life should preach to them; the love you show, the kindness you show, the forbearance (patience) in you should bring people to Christ, praise the Lord!
Fruit is the external result of an internal relationship, the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Fruit is the dressing that beckons others to know the God we represent. Like the bright mango/orange standing out in the green leaves of a tree, the fruit of the Spirit announces to a starving world, here is food, here is life, come and find way out of exhaustion and discouragement, come and meet God.
Is your life saying come and meet God? That’s the essence of what I’m saying; is your life, is my life saying come and meet God without my verbalizing it? Your love, your patience, all the fruit of the Spirit, is it saying come and meet God? Is it drawing men to God? Or on the other hand, is it drawing men away from God? Are you the one in the church that you carry an angry face every time that people just don’t want to look at you or people just don’t want to serve your God?
I remember Pastor giving us an example (maybe last week or two weeks ago) of somebody that was his boss in the office and he met him on the prayer line at the camp. Imagine a nasty boss, extremely nasty boss and then let’s just say there’s a prayer line now, everybody will come for prayer and he’s the one standing in front of you to put hand on you, how will you feel? That’s what I’m talking about, fruit; you’ll just say this one, put his hand on my head? This one is a devil, this is a child of the devil, praise God!
So it’s important who we are in our place of work. At the Ladipo street where they are selling parts, in the mall at Admiralty, in the markets at Oke-Arin, who are you? What will your neighbor in the market say about you? It does not matter how much you know how to preach, maybe you are the best orator in the whole of RCCG, and I’m using the word ‘orator’, I’m not saying preacher because some of us are just orators, praise God!
Maybe you are the one that’s spending three hours every day pounding the streets of Lagos preaching to people, saying their sin will kill them, they will not die, and it does not matter if you don’t show love, 1st Corinthians 13: 1 – 3 & 13 is very instructive, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love”.
So what I’m saying this morning is that your life should preach Christ; thank God you are a good witness, you know how to witness, you go about every day, you spend quality time witnessing to people but they will call you a hypocrite behind you if your life does not reflect Christ, if your life does not reflect charity and love, patience and all those things in Galatians 5 that we mentioned.
So we need to be careful how we behave to people; it’s nice to pray for more laborers, it’s nice to pray to be a more effective laborer, but it’s better still to live that life – the life of a true Christian. Are you displaying the fruits of the Holy Spirit? Like I said, no matter how long you pray or fast or witness, your fruit will bear you out, my fruit will bear me out and you cannot hide it.
If you are an angry person, your anger will show, I can assure you. I used to be a very angry person, God is helping me now, I’m not saying God has helped me fully yet, but God is working very well on me. I know I’m a bit better than what I was ten, five, maybe fifteen years ago.
Maybe you are a very angry person, you get angry easily, you’ve been out all day ministering, two hours in the sun witnessing to people and then your driver picked you up somewhere and the first thing you said to him is that you are a stupid boy, why did you come so late? The man will just smile and say see this man wasting his time in the sun; yeah, you will make heaven but then, that will be something against you, praise God!
So the people around you know you better, your spouse, your children and that’s why children of a lot of (even) men of God look at them and they snigger, they’ll say our daddy, they said our daddy is a minister, minister indeed, praise God!
Same to our mommies, mommies should not smile too much o; they can say our mommy can bring the heaven down with curses, by the time they are cursing the maid or the nanny, they’ll now say give me my Bible, I’m going to preach, and you go out, what do you think those children will say? They’ll say time waster, she’s going to waste her time again outside, praise God!
So our life is important, because some people will call us hypocrites if we don’t walk the talk and it will be right to do so. Thank God for everything, but God wants us to show love.
And as we continue to pray for additional laborers for the great harvest, let’s pray that we’ll be more committed in our own work; let’s pray for the fruits of the Spirit to make us an effective steward, shall we bow pour heads to pray this morning.
Without prayer, without supplication, proper prayer, laborers cannot be decreed into the harvest, so we need to learn to pray daily, add it to our prayer points every day that Father, send laborers to Your vineyard, send laborers for Your harvest, the harvest is ripe, we don’t want it to get rotten.
And then let’s pray also that Father, make me a more effective worker, a more effective laborer. It’s not about committing to work in a particular church, you can work for God in many ways, you can draw men to God, let’s pray this morning.
[Altar call]
We are going to say Father, please do not let me be a spectator in the Explosive Growth Drive of the church, don’t let me just be the one watching them, let me be a true participant in the Explosive Growth Drive, in Jesus name we prayed.
Everybody say Father, please make a more effective and dedicated laborer in Your vineyard in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
And lastly, we are going to say Father, let my lifestyle attract people to Your kingdom, let my life display the fruits of the Spirit, let me be a good specimen of who Christ is, let my life show God, Father let my life be attractive for the glory of Your kingdom in the mighty name of Jesus, in Jesus name we prayed.
Father we thank You; we give You glory and honor for this day, thank You again for the gift of life, we are returning glory, we are returning praise to Your name oh Lord. Father we pray, that as we make supplication for more laborers, Father send laborers to Your vineyard, make us more effective laborers, take all the glory, in Jesus name we prayed.
