Workers in the Lord's Harvest Field

IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Workers in the Lord's Harvest Field

Date: Mar. 8, 2020

Passage

Luke 10:1-16 (ESV)

1 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. 2 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. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. 9 Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

13 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. 14 But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You shall be brought down to Hades.

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.

For information on how the ESV can be quoted, please visit our permission site.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 10:2

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.

1. Pray for harvest workers (1-7)

To follow Jesus also means to be sent out by him into his harvest field. Jesus sent out seventy-two other disciples to go ahead into the towns he would visit. Many needed to hear the gospel but there were few who could carry out that task. Going into Jesus' harvest field could be dangerous and required total reliance and focus on God. But there is no more eternally important work than working in the Lord's harvest field. Let us ask the Lord to send out harvest workers into his harvest field.

2. Heal the sick; preach the kingdom of God (8-16)

The work in the harvest field had two components - healing the sick and telling people that the kingdom of God had come near. Healing the sick was visible evidence that God's kingdom had come. This life-saving work would be met with strong resistance. Jesus foretold judgment against those who rejected his workers and his kingdom.

Prayer: Prayer: Lord, thank you that your kingdom has come. Please send out workers into your harvest field, including me.

One Word: Lord, send out workers.

In the End, Have Faith in God

Genesis 49:29-50:26

Key Verse: 49:50:24

When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and was gathered to his people.

Today's Question

What benefits in this life go with or come from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

See answer and references