Harvest Work - John 4:27-42

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[0:44] Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Calvary Chapel Charlotte. All right, well, let's turn to John chapter 4.

[0:54] We're going to finish, Lord willing, this section where Jesus is in Samaria. He has been with the woman at the well this last little bit, these last couple of weeks as we've been going through that section with Jesus there in Samaria, in Sychar, which would be Shechem, where Joseph, I mean, sorry, where, well, Joseph's bones were buried, but where Jacob came and settled with his family.

[1:18] And we've watched as this woman's understanding of Jesus has been growing as he is drawing her out by drilling in to her needs, to her core issues.

[1:32] And it's kind of like as her understanding of Jesus grows, it's in proportion to how like deeper he's getting into her issues, how closer he's getting to her need is her greater understanding of Jesus is growing.

[1:45] And those two things happen. The more we get to know the Lord, well, the more we find out, well, it's not going to, he's going to get to know much about me. He already knows about me. It's the more I find out he already knows.

[1:56] So as I draw closer to him, he's showing me things in my life that he's like, hey, I know about this. And I think we're at a point now where we could deal with this, Jared. It's like, whoa, Lord, you know about that too.

[2:07] Oh no. But it's never, as we saw with this woman, he's never put her down. He's never, never belittled her. What does the word of God do always? It lifts up, lifts up, not in pride, but it gives us, it gives us something we could have never had without it.

[2:21] It gives us standing before God. As her understanding of Jesus grew, then so also did her realization of how much he knew about her. We saw that she thought of him just as a man, some man talking to her at the well, and that grew into a great man comparing him with Jacob.

[2:38] And then she said, sir, you are a master. And then she perceived he's a prophet. And then she says, hey, but we know that Messiah, when he comes, will tell us all things. And Jesus says to her, I am.

[2:49] I that speak to you am he. And that remarkable realization that of her five husbands and the guy she's living with of those six men, the seventh man to come into her life is the one to fulfill those relationships.

[3:04] In Christ, this woman would gain much more than just the living water. Jesus has promised her living water, a well of living water, which would spring up unto everlasting life, satisfaction. And yet she's going to gain so much more than she would have realized in this moment.

[3:18] She would gain a purpose and a place in the work of God. She's going to be sent into that town. It's going to stir the whole place up. She is going to be about Jesus's work. And that work is harvest work.

[3:30] And we are going to be looking at that in the text today, that God has a work for us. There's a harvest. Harvest. And we're the laborers, guys. We're it. So harvest.

[3:41] What is a harvest? Well, we don't really live in an agricultural society anymore. I don't know how many of you still have harvests. I mean, maybe some of you, you have little gardens. And so harvest is, at its basic terms, a season of gathering in the result of a previous labor.

[3:56] So I'm gathering in something that was a result of a previous labor. A harvest follows established rules that cannot be altered. So a harvest, an agrarian harvest, a harvest of a crop, it must come after growing, which must come after sowing.

[4:13] You can't do it the other way around. You know, I want to harvest my wheat before I sow the wheat and grow the wheat. It doesn't work that way. There's established rules. It must come after growing and sowing.

[4:24] There's no way to skip these steps. You can't. One of the main purposes of a harvest is to gain something greater than what was sown. If you take 5,000 kernels of corn and you plant them and you get one ear, which I looked this up, it's about 800 kernels of corn, and that's all you get, that's a catastrophic failure.

[4:46] Like, this is not a good harvest. Well, I got something. That's not the point. The point is to get something. The idea is you sow and you reap greater than what you sow. He who sows to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption more and greater.

[5:00] But he who sows to the spirit shall of the spirit reap everlasting life more and greater. So these same rules apply to the work of the spirit, as I just quoted. They're steps we can't skip as we desire the Lord to do greater work in our lives.

[5:14] We just can't skip those steps. I'd like to. I'd love to jump so many times to the reaping. Like, Lord, Lord, do the work in my life. Yes, do the work. Give me the reap.

[5:24] He's like, all right. Well, I got to turn up the soil. No, let's just reap. Well, I got to sow. And boy, you got to grow. I was like, Lord, we've been growing. How long is this season of growth going to be?

[5:35] When do we get to reaping? But we can't skip those steps. They're just as valid in our life. And I don't want to get, I don't want to skip those steps. I don't want to blow through the season of growth because I don't want to get to the harvest and be like, that's it?

[5:48] That's all I've got? Man, I want there to be a harvest. And so with that thought in mind, let's jump in here to the text. And we're going to pick up in John chapter 4. In verse 26, Jesus has just declared to this woman, I that speak unto you am he.

[6:04] Or literally, I am is speaking unto you. The one that she says, I know that Messiah, when he comes, he'll tell us all things. And Jesus says, I am. I'm speaking unto you.

[6:15] And now, verse 27, upon this came his disciples. Remember, they've gone into town. A big step of faith for them. They're going into a Samaritan town. The Jews and the Samaritans didn't have anything to do with each other.

[6:26] They're going into town to get food from the Samaritans, which would technically be ceremonially unclean. Like, okay, we're going to do this because we love Jesus. We want to take care of him and he's hungry, he's tired, he's weary.

[6:38] They would have passed this woman as she comes to the well and they've gone into town. They come back now and it says, and upon this came his disciples. And they marveled that he talked with the woman.

[6:50] So they come to Jesus as him and this woman are having or finishing this conversation. And it says, and yet no man said, what seek you? To the woman. Or why do you talk with her?

[7:01] To Jesus. They did not expect Jesus in this scene with this person and in this conversation. Jesus is talking to her.

[7:12] No, Jesus, we don't talk to those people. That's not, Christians don't talk to them. Talking to her in this scene. Jesus, this isn't a scene for you. You're here alone at the well with a woman who's had five husbands and living with a man.

[7:27] And you're talking with her. The disciples made two major mistakes regarding Jesus. And we can see that from the questions they asked. The first was they limited his ability to meet need.

[7:40] What seek you? They did not ask the woman, but they're thinking that. What are you seeking? What are you seeking from Jesus? He doesn't have anything for you. They're limiting his ability to meet need. Jesus could meet this woman's need.

[7:51] Jesus can meet any need. It wasn't just their needs or the needs within the nation of Israel. And they limited his words. Or they didn't ask, why do you talk with her?

[8:05] Jesus, what are you talking to her for? Your words don't, they're not for her. So they limited his ability to meet need. And they limited his word. And we know Hebrews 4.12 says the word of God is quick and powerful.

[8:17] Man, you can't limit that. The woman, verse 28, then leaves her water pot. She didn't even pay attention to the disciples. She's like, yeah, whatever. She left her water pot and went her way into the city.

[8:31] The word left means to disregard, to cast off, to have no care of. In consequence to Jesus' words, this woman has disregarded what has represented her limited ability to supply need.

[8:45] This thing in her life, this water pot, it's familiar. It's part of her identity. That's the only thing we know of her as. It's the woman at the well. Because she had a water pot. And she left it.

[8:57] It was familiar. It's part of her identity. It's something she partakes of daily. Every day this is in her life. But it's also temporary. It's limited. And it's attached to self-effort.

[9:08] Something she has to do. And in consequence to Jesus' words, she disregards all that. Just clangety-clang-clang. Just leaves it. And went her way into the city.

[9:22] She's going to go into the city. And she's going to speak to the men that are there. She's not going to go to the women. She's going to go to the men. I don't think the women would have listened to her.

[9:35] I think she was essentially an outcast at this time. And I think when she goes to the men, the idea is she's going to go to the men that are in the gate of the city. That's like where all the rulers would gather.

[9:45] The people that, all the business that would be done. You know, you couldn't call them up on the phone. If you needed something that regarded like the business or the politics of the city, you would go to the city gate.

[9:58] So she knew where to find them. But she's a woman who has left that city and come to this well empty. She's going to return full. She's left the city alone, but she's going to return with a relationship.

[10:11] A real relationship that she's been looking for. She left a mess, but she's going to return to that city with a message. And she left in shame, but she is going to return in boldness.

[10:23] And she said to the men, verse 29, well, the end of verse 28 into 29, come see a man. Hey, I found a man. Girl, you got lots of men.

[10:34] She's like, no, no, come see a man. I found him. Just another man. Okay. Oh boy. Come and see a man which told me all things that ever I did.

[10:45] Is not this the Christ? Is not this the anointed? You wonder if one of her five husbands is standing there. Oh no, all things that she did. Oh man. I hope he doesn't. I hope he doesn't know why she, that third marriage failed.

[10:56] Oh boy. That's what I, oh man. Come and see a man that told me all things that ever I did. You know, they're going to respond to her because they're going to see something in this woman.

[11:06] They're going to see that she's all of a sudden there she is and she's speaking to them and there's a load lifted. There's a heart that's been cleaned.

[11:17] She knows she's accepted. She's found her man. Ephesians two verses one and two says, and you has he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. We were that. We're in time past when we were dead in our trespasses and sins.

[11:31] We walked according to the course of this world. That's what this woman's doing. She's walked for years according to the course of this world. She's taken every course this world has had to offer.

[11:43] She was dead in her trespasses and sins. And she comes and she says, I found someone who knows everything about me, but accepts me. Jesus is like no other man she's ever known.

[11:56] The more he knew of her, the more he loved her. Or what has she experienced? Man, the more people knew of her. Whoa. Okay. You know, at one time I bet she was the, the bell of the well.

[12:08] I bet she was the girl. I bet she was the young girl that, whoa, look at that girl. She's going places. She's beautiful. She was the one that the world would have said, wow, this, this is the one.

[12:20] But this is what the world does. They use you. They abuse you. And then they lose you. At this point in her life, nobody wants to be associated with her.

[12:30] Nobody's like, yes. Oh, we'll listen to you. Jesus is like none other. Romans 5 20 says, moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

[12:44] Jesus came not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Her understanding of God's anointed was very limited, but 100% accurate. What does she know?

[12:55] She keeps repeating the same thing. He told me all things ever I did. Messiah, when he comes, will tell us all things. It's very limited, but 100% accurate. She knew that Messiah would perceive all things, understand all things, and speak of all things.

[13:11] Very limited, but 100% accurate. What she did not expect was that Messiah was going to do that for her personally. Maybe she thought, you know, I know Messiah is coming.

[13:23] I know he'll come to Jerusalem and I'm a Samaritan. I can't, I can't go into the temple, but you know, I could hear about him. Maybe he would come to Samaria, to Mount Gerizim. Maybe he'd come here.

[13:34] Maybe I could get a ticket and sit in the back row of the stadium, you know, to watch the show, because nobody can afford those prices. Maybe I could sit there and I'd get to see him. Like, whoa, there's Messiah. And I could hear his words.

[13:46] But little did he expect that she, that he would come to her. And as we read there in verse 26, Jesus said unto her. There's nobody else there.

[13:56] He says, these words are for you. He would perceive all things, understand all things and speak all things personally into her life. Her personal understanding of Jesus has led to removal of shame, to a new source of boldness and a desire to share.

[14:13] She's like, I'm going back and I'm going to tell them. I can't wait to go tell them. What did she not do? She didn't get there and go, guys, come tonight and I'll tell all. $20 a head.

[14:24] I'm, you know, I'm going to start a little seminar. I'm going to show you how you too can progress from, you know, worthless woman to wonder woman. Right? No, it was come and meet the one.

[14:36] Come and meet him. Isn't he Christ? Then they went out of the city, verse 30, and they came unto him. Through her desire to share, through her removal of shame, she speaks to them and they respond in a way where they're like, something is different about you.

[14:55] Something is, something's different. Okay. We're going to go now to this place that you've invited us to because of your witness.

[15:05] They went out of the city and came unto him because of this woman's witness. It was a faithful witness. It was a witness that didn't draw attention to her, but pointed to the one who changed her life. Their response was to the witness of one who was once like them.

[15:20] Like this woman, she was, some of us have like history with her. She was once like them. This is a woman who was now no longer empty. She was no longer ashamed and she was free.

[15:34] This was a different woman from who went to the well, who's come back to the well. Jesus would say in John 8, 36, if the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

[15:44] And he's specifically talking at this point to those that are servants of sin, that the son is the only one in the house who can let a servant go free. He's the only one. If the son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.

[15:58] So this woman's witness, her faithful witness and boldness and without shame and limited understanding, but in personal transformation, she goes and shares and they're like, okay, well, we'll go check it out.

[16:12] It led these men to go somewhere they normally would not go. Men don't go to the well. It's women's work. The women go to the well to get water. Men stay here and do important things.

[16:23] They don't go to the well. It's to listen to someone they normally would not listen to. I'm going to go listen to some Jewish rabbi. They're Samaritans.

[16:34] That's not what they do. And it was to seek one they did not yet know. How many of us, because of someone's faithful witness, maybe with limited understanding, but sharing their personal testimony, have led us to go somewhere we wouldn't go?

[16:48] Man, I'm going to church. I can't believe I'm going to church. Someone invited me to church. I don't go to church to listen to someone we normally would not. I'm going to go listen to some preacher guy. Oh boy. But we end up seeking someone, desiring to know someone that we don't know yet.

[17:04] And here we are because of someone's faithful witness. I mean, personally, I didn't have Jesus personally appear to me. I know that's happening. It happens to people, but he's working in a world primarily through people's faithful witness.

[17:16] And sorry, my guess is most of us here are here in response to that, to a faithful witness. The whole city will be moved by one unworthy woman and her response to Jesus.

[17:30] Just one unworthy woman that nobody wanted anything to do with. First Corinthians chapter one, verses 26 through 28 says, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

[17:48] It doesn't mean that you guys aren't mighty, wise, and noble. I look out and you all look mighty, wise, and noble to me. It just means after the flesh, like the world's not going to come in here and go, well, finally, is this where all the mighty, wise, and noble people have been hiding?

[18:01] Quick, get the news crews. Let's, we've got positions for all of you. No, God's not looking for our natural ability. In fact, most of the time, if he's going to use our natural ability, or I would say all the time, it's going to have to go through death, burial, and resurrection before he can use it.

[18:18] We see someone think, look it, that person is so gifted in organization. God could use him greatly. He could. He could. Once he first crucifies that and raises it again, in a sense, so that it's in his hands.

[18:31] Yes, because very often our strong points in our, in our natural abilities, they're in opposition to what God wants to do, because I think I got this. I know how to handle this, Jesus. I know how to do this.

[18:42] He's like, no, no, no, no. If he's going to use it, it's going to be in brokenness. Most of the time, he says, yeah, you know what? I'm going to use you in a weak area. Want to know one of my weakest areas? I hate talking in front of people.

[18:57] I was homeschooled. That's not why, but we had to do these. My mom made us do these 4-H demonstrations every year to just force us in front of people. Man, I'd be sick for like weeks before that.

[19:09] It was the worst day of the year. Oh, I hated having to do that. I don't like drawing attention to myself. I just don't like that. And then the church we were at where we raised our kids up in New York, the Calvary Chapel is, you know, I was doing stuff there and in leadership.

[19:26] And every once in a while, you know, my good friend who is a pastor and loves to get in front of people, just can't wait. That's what God's called him to. He'd like have me slot in for youth group once in a while.

[19:38] Oh, man. And now it's just a thing. But it's only because I have something to say. And it's only because the word of God gives me something to say.

[19:50] I don't want to be up here otherwise, guys. But it's because I love God's word. And I know that you love God's word. And so God says, hey, I'm going to call you in weakness.

[20:00] And it was a moment in my life specifically where I had surrendered to the Lord, a moment of his work, of grace, and just like, all right, Lord, if you want to use me with all my hangups, failures, and shortcomings, whatever.

[20:13] And it was like that next moment, I realized I had to acknowledge to myself, you're calling me to pastor a church. I was good being the number two guy, the guy behind the number.

[20:24] I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be the one who has to do the teaching and speaking. But hey, God doesn't call the many noble. He doesn't call many mighty. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

[20:36] Guys, I'm very foolish. And God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, the base things of the world, and the things which are despised. It's like this woman.

[20:48] She's despised. It's one thing to be weak. It's one thing to not be mighty. It's another thing to be despised. And the Lord said, I want to use you, despicable one. Those has God chosen, and yea, the things which are not, to bring to naught the things that are.

[21:04] Because God wants to show each one of us it's not by our ability, but it's by his ability. Our witness and testimony is never to draw attention to ourselves, never to say, look how wise and mighty and noble I am, but to call people to come and witness Jesus for themselves.

[21:19] Hey, come meet the one who told me all things whatsoever I did. Come meet the one who took a weakness and used it as a strength in my life. Come meet the one who's called me to this. Come meet the one who saved my soul.

[21:31] Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. Scene change. In the meanwhile, his disciples now prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

[21:46] So we were there, the women's at the city, talking to these guys, they're all coming back. In the meanwhile, just means at the same time as. So she's gone back to the town, she's speaking to the men, they're deciding, yes, we're gonna come back and see Jesus.

[21:58] While all that is taking place in the town, here's the disciples. In the meanwhile, his disciples prayed him, or besought him, saying, Master, eat something. You can picture Jesus sitting at the well, just looking down the road into the town, like, any minute now, any minute now.

[22:15] They're like, why won't you eat something? Their care of Jesus was sincere. It was completely sincere, but their understanding of him was lacking. At this point in time, I think this woman understood more of who Jesus was than his disciples.

[22:28] It's very sincere. But their natural perception, the problem was it led them to see the people as the source of supply. Jesus, we went to the people and got what you needed.

[22:41] And Jesus is the object of need. No, Jesus has need, we'll use the people. Look, Jesus doesn't have need. Jesus doesn't need us. But Jesus wants us, and he uses us.

[22:53] He doesn't need us. There's no reason, you know, we're not gonna pass a plate, we're not gonna put a thermometer on the wall. Jesus needs your money. No, he doesn't. He needs you to give. You know who needs to give?

[23:04] You need to give. You need to give for you. We need to give because our hearts naturally are not generous. We need to respond to the generosity that comes by way of the new life of the spirit.

[23:16] And what does the Bible promise us? Hey, the more we give, the more he's gonna supply so we can keep giving. It's not like, man, I've given so much to Jesus and he's loaded me up and I'm good. I don't ever need to give anything again.

[23:27] I'll just sit here and live off the interest of what he's given me. No, he pours into our life so we can continually pour forth. But Jesus doesn't have need. We don't go to the people and look to say, hey, you need to do something for Jesus.

[23:40] No, you need to let Jesus do something for you. So they're a little bit mixed up in their understanding here. And he said to them, I have meat to eat that you know not of. Meat just means that which sustains, a source of food, a source of life, a source of sustenance.

[23:55] This woman at the well, she needed to understand Jesus as the source of what? Life-giving water. Well, we've moved from the woman at the well to the disciples at the well. And the disciples at the well need to understand Jesus as the sustainer of a life-giving work.

[24:12] They're going to be called into this work of life, of taking life to the nations. And they need to understand Jesus is that sustainer. It's not by some material means.

[24:24] He had a source of sustenance that they were unable to perceive. Why? Why couldn't they perceive it? Well, because his words, they require spiritual understanding.

[24:34] We're not going to perceive them through our natural means. Jesus would say in John 6, 63, if the spirit, it is the spirit that quickens the flesh, it profits nothing. Not even a little bit, Jesus?

[24:46] Maybe just a few? Nothing. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. In comparison, the flesh has no profit in spirit and life.

[24:57] The only thing that does is his word. Therefore, said the disciples now in response to Jesus saying, hey, I have a source that you don't know of. They said one to another, has anybody brought him something to eat?

[25:11] Has any man brought him something to eat? Is there shame in not understanding God's word? Is it like, I don't want to admit I don't understand that. You know, man, I was reading this verse, brother.

[25:22] Isn't that an amazing verse? Yeah, that's awesome. I don't even know what that means. What is he talking about? You know, look at this scripture. Dry bones are going to walk. What in the world is he talking about? Is there shame? There's no shame in not understanding God's word.

[25:35] There's nothing wrong with disciples seeking out explanations among one another. But we shouldn't leave Jesus out. Like, who's there with them?

[25:47] Jesus. Jesus. And they didn't say, Jesus, did someone bring you something to eat? What do you mean? They turned to each other and said, hey, did someone bring him something to eat? I mean, Jesus is sitting there like, boys. Ephesians 4, 11 through 12 says, And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints.

[26:08] Just mean the completion of the saints, the wholeness of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. This is God's gift. Paul's speaking of the gift of the spirit and the way it operates in the body.

[26:21] These are some of the ways that it does, specifically in a body, in a fellowship. God wants us to be giving explanations to one another, speaking of the word, teaching the word.

[26:32] But we should never do so in a way that leaves out Jesus. We should never do so that leaves out the logos, the word of God. Unfortunately, we live in a nation in a day and age where there are those who will sit around and talk about what Jesus meant, but they won't go to the source.

[26:51] Man, let's talk about Jesus. You know, it says, I think in Malachi, that there's a book of remembrance written, the names are written of those who speak on his name together.

[27:05] So as we speak of Jesus, you know, he's got someone up there. One of his angels is like, there's another one. Must be like a lot of angels because a lot of people are speaking of Jesus. He's writing down our names. Oh man, on April 19th.

[27:18] Oh, there they were again. There's no shame in not understanding his word, but don't leave Jesus out of the equation and our desire to understand. And he said unto them, they didn't ask him.

[27:29] He just turned and said, hey boys, I see you're talking about something there. Maybe I could help you. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. My source of sustenance. It's not to be materially comforted.

[27:45] It's not to have material gain. My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Jesus came with a purpose, didn't he? He says, my meat is to do the will of him that sent me.

[27:59] His purpose was his father's will. He had a priority. His priority was to accomplish this work. And he had a provision. He says, my sustenance is when I prioritize the purpose for which I was sent.

[28:14] I find a provision in there. And he also had power to do it, to finish his work. He had a purpose. He had a priority. Provision and power. Jesus' purpose and provision was found where?

[28:27] In carrying out his father's will. As he did his father's will, as he followed the father's plan, he found purpose there. And he found that God provided. You know, Jesus will say, the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

[28:40] But it didn't mean that he didn't, that every night he was like, what am I going to do? No. He's like, hey, God's got a place for me. I don't have a place of my own. But I know that God will care for me.

[28:52] Matthew 6, 33 says, Seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. What things? Take no thought for your body what you shall wear. Take no thought what you shall eat or what shall you drink.

[29:04] For after all these things do the nations of the world seek. Take no thought for the morrow. For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the days, the evil thereof.

[29:15] What does that mean? What does it mean, take no thought? Let's take no anxious thought. The idea is, if I'm seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, he will provide everything that's needed for this day. This evil day, he will have sufficiency for everything I need today.

[29:29] So why worry about tomorrow when tomorrow is going to have its own sufficiency? And God is not giving me tomorrow's supply. He's giving me today's. But the key is what? Seek first.

[29:41] We can't seek second, third, fourth, or fifth. And then be like, I don't understand this. I can't find God's provision. Well, but I'm not about his purpose. And I'm not prioritizing his plan.

[29:51] I'm trying to do everything in my own effort. Well, God, you should be caring for me. Seek first. Jesus understood that when he prioritized God's eternal purposes, God would take care of his temporal provision.

[30:06] In John 17, four, Jesus says, I've glorified you, Father, on the earth. I have finished the work which you gave me to do. He made it. He made it to the end. And we will too, whatever eternal purpose God sends us to accomplish, that purpose has within it the provision and power and promise of fulfillment.

[30:27] He who began a good work in us, he will fulfill it. He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. It has within it that provision and that power and promise of fulfillment.

[30:39] I don't have to wonder, Lord, if you've called me to this, am I going to make it? He said, well, you will make it. As long as you focus on the right thing. As long as you prioritize the right thing. Is it that if we don't, he's going to be like, I'm going to take away your sustenance for today.

[30:56] No, we'll be like, like when we were in Exodus. We'll be like Israel in the wilderness. I don't want to go out and collect manna. I don't like that. But it's right there. Well, can't you just make it appear on my table as a loaf of bread?

[31:08] I could, but I didn't. Go collect it. Go get it. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. He'll take care of the rest. He says to them now, say not.

[31:20] There are yet four months and then comes harvest. So now he's helping them. He's preparing them, reshaping their view, just as he did the woman at the well, where she needed to see that Jesus was not talking about what?

[31:33] Water, like physical water. He was talking about something of the spirit. He's now doing the same thing with his apostles. He's like, guys, I'm not talking about a physical provision.

[31:44] I'm talking about something of the spirit. And now we're going to talk about a harvest. He's like, I'm not talking about a physical harvest. There are four months. Do not say there are four months and then comes harvest.

[31:54] Don't say the work is yet in the future. It's not time for work. That's still in the future. Behold, I say, and you lift up your eyes and look on the fields. They are white already to harvest.

[32:06] Again, we don't spend a lot of time in the harvest, but this is an immature, still growing crop of barley. Barley would have been something that they would have grown around that area in the region at the time.

[32:20] And it's what color? It's green. When it gets ripened, all the chlorophyll is out of it, and it turns white, essentially. It looks very white. At that point, what does it mean?

[32:31] It means it's not growing. It means it's past the point where it's going to gain anything more. And the maximum potential that you can get out of it is now. It's now. If you leave it any further, you go past that point, and it begins to lose its value.

[32:46] It begins to become unprofitable. They are white already to harvest. The time is now. There will always be an opportunity and always a need to serve God now.

[33:00] Now. I think for myself, I won't speak for anyone else, I think it's easy to look in the future, be like, man, God, there's so much potential in what you could do.

[33:13] Or when are we going to do that? Or are you going to do this? He's like, well, what can we do now? What about right now? Oh, Lord, I don't know if I'm ready. I don't know if I'm ready. If I quite understand enough. Well, look at this woman.

[33:24] What does she understand? She understood what Jesus did for her. And she went and she's going to get this whole town all coming out to see him. The time for work is not the future.

[33:37] Don't say it's still future. It's now. And look, Jesus uses three words here for sight. He says, behold, lift up your eyes and look. Behold means as the idea of look.

[33:48] Like, look now. Right? Like, oh, look. Airplane's flying over. Oh, it's gone. We missed it. Just look now. Lift up your eyes as look higher. And look on the fields for their white-earned harvest is understand what you see.

[34:03] Look now. Look higher. And understand what you see. And what are they seeing right now? Who's coming to them? The men of the city are coming out with this woman. He's like, look right now.

[34:13] Lift your eyes up and understand what you see. Look higher than just the material. Stop worrying about your daily bread and understand God's got that. And focus on something that gives life-giving bread.

[34:27] Do you see the men of the city coming as a harvest of souls? Can you see that? Look. Look higher. Understand what you see. Spiritual perception, it understands that God's eternal purposes, they take the highest priority in our lives.

[34:43] When we see with spiritual eyes, we're able to look now and look higher and understand what we see. We understand that God's eternal purposes, they take the highest priority in our present.

[34:55] It's not about, oh, in the future. In four months. Yeah, you know what? I'm ready. Well, you know what? The kid's got this going on right now, so it's really busy. Well, you know, I don't know. I got to work a lot.

[35:05] Maybe when I get to this point in my finances, this point in my career, maybe when this league is over, no. Now, there are fields ripe for harvest all around us.

[35:20] What is the purpose of spiritual perception? It's harvest. Jesus is saying, look and understand that there is a harvest. There are white already for harvest.

[35:32] Already means now at this time, having come to this point. This is the point, guys. And I say, and you lift up your eyes and look on the fields. What does a field represent?

[35:43] Well, a field would be the location of the harvest. The field would be the location of the labor. What do you have to do with a field? You have to enter it.

[35:55] It doesn't do any good just to have spiritual perception and go, man, I can, that harvest is ripe. Man, that needs a laborer. Yep, that's, that's, what are you going to do?

[36:05] I'm just watching. Just going to see what happens. No, we've got to enter it. The field is the location of the harvest. It's the location where we will labor. But it's a location that has to be entered. If God gives us spiritual perception, it's not just so we can say, well, my, my kids know a whole lot.

[36:22] But it's for the purpose of spiritual action. God wants us to take part. He wants us to be a part of his harvest. As he's saying here to his disciples, we are his disciples. Many generations of many disciples later who have harvested and harvested and have gone out and said, man, I see these fields white.

[36:40] They are white unto harvest. The time is now. I need to go and I need to reap before it's too late. And he that we, he that reaps in verse 36, he receives wages.

[36:51] Guys, you're going to get paid. And gathers fruit unto life eternal that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. Jesus is saying the benefits far outweigh the work, guys.

[37:06] This is the benefit package of the harvest. And it is good. You receive wages. Well, whose harvest are you in? God's harvest. It's a divine harvest.

[37:17] Man, that means you get a divine recompense. You get eternal results. Fruit for eternal life. A cause for joy. He that sows and he that reaps rejoice together in fellowship.

[37:31] We have a divine recompense. Eternal results. A cause for joy. And fellowship. Sounds like a great place to work to me. You know, would you like to work in the harvest?

[37:41] You get divine, you get paid divinely. Eternal results. Results that last forever. Not just temporary. A cause for joy and fellowship. Well, what else you got? That sounds pretty good.

[37:53] I'll take it. The benefits far outweigh the work. And herein is that saying true. I looked. It's not a saying from scripture. The one sows and other reaps. I'm like, is he quoting a scripture?

[38:04] It's just some saying at the time. Meaning that you're not necessarily going to have the same person do the same things in the harvest. It could be spread out and it could be totally two different people. What is he getting at here?

[38:17] I think he's essentially saying the part we play in this eternal harvest is not nearly important, as important, as that we participate. What part do you play?

[38:29] Well, you know, look at that guy. He's a, he's out. He's a reaper. He's just cutting it down. All I do is carry water. All I do is carry water to these people. I mean, I don't got much of a job. You know, all I'm doing over here is making sandwiches or all I do is just sharpen the tools at night.

[38:45] I don't get to take part in the harvest. Listen, it's the same benefits for every member. For every laborer, they get the same benefits. Paul would say in writing to the first Corinthians who were very concerned, very, very concerned with what each person was doing.

[39:03] He says in chapter three, I have planted, Apollo's watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters, but God that gives the increase.

[39:16] If God isn't given the increase, there's not going to be a harvest to harvest. It's not so important what part we play, but that we participate. And he says to them now in verse 38, he says, guys, I sent you to reap that wherein you've bestowed no labor.

[39:34] Lift up your eyes, see the harvest. I am sending you now to reap somewhere that you've not been the one to do the labor, to break the ground, to sow, and to weed out the crop. Other men labored and you have entered into their labor.

[39:50] Labor means toil or to grow weary. Remember we read that in John 4 verse 6. Jesus being wearied sat on the well. Other men have grown weary. Other men have toiled and you will enter in to the benefit of that.

[40:07] If you remember in John chapter 3, Jesus began to baptize, but not him specifically, his disciples. And it says, where did John move? John moved up north in the Jordan and he moved to an area called Selim or Anion Selim.

[40:23] And what region is that in? Samaria. Samaria. Not too far from Sychar. He says, I have sent you forth and you're going to reap where you have not sown.

[40:37] Jesus baptizing the southern region. John moves north and he begins to baptize in the region of Samaria. He begins to tell the Samaritans what? Prepare you for the one who's coming. Messiah is coming.

[40:48] This woman at the well says, I've heard that when he comes, he'll know all things. There's another who's labored, another who's toiled, and they are just going to enter in to that toil.

[41:00] What does that mean for us? I think we need to recognize today that the majority of the labor and preparing the harvest we're a part of, it's been accomplished by others who've gone before us.

[41:13] I sit here blessed to pastor at Calvary Chapel because of the labors of men who've gone before me. Many of you are here because you know what it means.

[41:27] Calvary Chapel is. You're not here because the, oh my word, it's Jared. It kind of makes me laugh. This thing in the south, you know, where you put the pastor's name on the sign, right? Like, if you're just driving by, you're not like, oh my word, it's him?

[41:39] I'm going to, I mean, how do you know who that is? Anyway, we're not getting any names on the sign unless it says, like, Jesus is here underneath it. But man, we labor in a harvest that's been prepared by countless others who've gone before us.

[41:57] We should enter with humility and gratitude in the work that God has called us to. We should not look down upon those who've gone before us, but we should recognize we stand on their shoulders. We should never put them down.

[42:09] Oh, well, look what we're doing. Yeah, it's because we're standing on the ground they won from the enemy. It's because we're in a harvest that they took so much time to toil in and to plant and to sow.

[42:20] I guess planting and sowing is the same thing. And many of the Samaritans, verse 39, of the city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all things that I did.

[42:33] Verse 40, so when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them and he stayed two days. We get this kind of anecdotal understanding here that it doesn't say they came and talked to Jesus and believed.

[42:47] It's telling us many of the Samaritans have believed because of what the woman said. Jesus just said to the disciples, you will enter into other men's labors. And now he's the scripture here. John the Apostle is giving us that example.

[42:59] He says, hey, this woman went and her labors is getting these guys ready that they are believing. Many means not a few. Many believed. They believed her words and they saw the evidence of the effect of those words in her life.

[43:15] They believed the words, but they saw a life that was changed that went with it. This woman then is reaping the labors of John the Baptist. She's reaping what he has worked and labored, preparing them for the Messiah.

[43:29] She comes and says, I found the one. And they believe her. They say, aha, we knew he was coming. And so we see a harvest here. Jesus is saying to his apostles, there's a harvest that's been prepared by John, by the Samaritan woman, and by Jesus.

[43:44] In verse 40, then when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would stay with them, that he would tarry with them, means to abide. And he did.

[43:55] He stayed there two days. They came to Jesus. They besought Jesus. They stayed with Jesus. Jesus is always willing to stay where he's welcomed. Don't know any place or any time where someone said, Jesus, come on now.

[44:11] No. Zacchaeus, come down. I'm going to go to your house today. Zacchaeus, come on, let's go. Jesus goes wherever he's welcomed. Matthew, Levi, the tax collector. Jesus calls him to follow him.

[44:23] He makes a feast and invites all the publicans and tax collectors. And Jesus says, let's go. Let's do this. Jesus is always willing to stay where he's welcomed. But what does he do there?

[44:34] He brings his word. Wherever Jesus is welcomed, Jesus' word follows. So he says he's two days in Samaria. In this town of Sychar.

[44:45] That is a scandal, Jesus. Two days for you. You're trying to set yourself up as the Jewish Messiah to have validity among these, this social economic class here.

[44:57] And you spent two days in Samaria. At the behest of the woman at the well. This is a scandal. Does Jesus ignore social barriers?

[45:07] He does not. What he does is simply establish a new one. He establishes a new social order based upon a society of faith. Jesus is ignoring social barriers.

[45:20] No, he's not. She's making a brand new one. That has all new rules. It's neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female. Man, you're all welcomed. There are no barriers with Jesus except the barrier of faith.

[45:34] And many more believed because of his own words and said to the woman, Now we believe. Not because of your saying. For we have heard him ourselves.

[45:46] And we know that this is indeed the Christ. We know him. We know that this is the one that we have looked for. We know that this is the one that's been promised.

[45:58] Not just the Christ, but the Savior of the world. Their understanding has grown. Jesus, an unknown man. Jesus, a great man. Jesus, the master.

[46:09] Jesus, the prophet. Jesus, Messiah. Jesus, the personally sufficient I am. And now the understanding that, wow, this is the Savior of the whole world. This woman was very faithful in her testimony to bring it to the men of the city.

[46:25] But the most effective tool we have as we work in the harvest is God's word. That's our most effective tool. We simply use our witness as a means to bring God's word.

[46:36] We simply use our witness as a means to bring people to Jesus. It's just the tool that is used. But the best tool is God's word. They said, listen, we believe because of your words.

[46:48] But now we've heard him. We know that this is indeed the Christ. The Savior of the world. For you and I, as laborers in this harvest, what is our job?

[47:02] I think it's like this woman. To get people into personal contact with God's word as quickly as possible. Get them to God's word as quickly as you can. You know, this woman didn't, again, promote herself.

[47:16] She didn't say, you know, let me give you my whole story. She just went and said, listen, he told me everything about my life. And he accepts me. So can I come introduce you to him?

[47:27] Can you come see him? Let me show you his word. Let me show you what it says in here. Well, God, God's out to get me. Let me show you what his word says. That he came not into the world to condemn the world, but the world through him might be saved.

[47:37] That God so loved the whole world that he gave his only begotten son. One of the things that we have to deal with as laborers is, in a sense, when the person that we brought to Jesus, like the woman in her pot, kind of leaves it and goes her way, we kind of get left behind.

[47:59] Right? As laborers, I've labored and I've worked and I'm trying to get this harvest and reap this harvest. I get this person. They finally get to Jesus. They accept him. They say, thank you. His words are amazing.

[48:10] Thanks for all you did. Bye. And he's kind of, well, uh, okay. And there is that moment where it's like, you know what? They don't need us.

[48:20] What they need is Jesus. We don't want to reverse it. Right? We don't want to think that we're supplying the need. Right? Jesus has a need and I'm going to fix.

[48:31] I'm there. Jesus, you need me. You need me in your harvest, Jesus. No, no, no. I'm not supplying. He's supplying. All I'm doing is getting people to Jesus and Jesus to people.

[48:42] All we're doing is bringing people as quickly as we possibly can into a personal contact with the word of God. Personal contact. Listen, if you're not personally coming in contact with Jesus, if you're not reading the word on your own, if he's not sowing and growing and reaping in your life and your heart, and you're coming here looking for my words, well, they may encourage you.

[49:05] But they're always going to do the same thing, Lord willing, as this woman's words. They're going to point you to Jesus. Well, that's great. But how much time have you spent with Jesus? Well, that's great. When's the last time you read his word?

[49:17] Well, sure, we can get together and talk about that. We can pray about that. We can work through that. But ultimately, to get you to Jesus. Get in personal contact with Jesus. Jesus here, he says, uses this word.

[49:34] And many more believed on him because of his own word. And he said unto the woman, or they said unto the woman, now we believe not because of thy sayings. I'm sorry. He doesn't say it. They say it about him. For we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ.

[49:49] Indeed is with the assurance of truth. Now we know with assurance of truth, this is the Christ because we heard his word. When we hear God's word, it assures us that we know the truth.

[50:03] The word of God has caused their understanding to grow to where now they realize they have the savior of the world. Psalm 115 verse 1 says, Not unto us, O Lord.

[50:15] Not unto us, but unto thy name give glory. For thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Not unto us, Lord. It's to your name. And what are we giving him glory for?

[50:27] Man, it's what we've experienced. It's that personal testimony that we can take to the world and say, I give glory to God because of the personal mercy and truth that I've experienced in my personal relationship with Jesus.

[50:40] It's a glorious thing, guys. It's a glorious thing to do the will of him that sent us into the harvest. And if today you're sitting here and you've not had a personal encounter with Jesus, if you've just been listening to someone else's words, talk about Jesus.

[50:54] And they're very encouraging. But you've not heard Jesus's words say to you as he did to the woman at the well, Hey, I have a source for you that'll satisfy all need.

[51:04] It doesn't matter how unworthy you are. You can receive this. You can receive a relationship with Jesus. The benefit packages are out of this world, guys. Come to Christ.

[51:17] Put your faith in him and let him do in you and through you what you can never do for yourself. Yes, eternal life. A life that lasts beyond this one. And then, like this woman, he says, all right, now I've got something for you to do.

[51:30] She didn't even have to say, Jesus, what do you want me to do? Her next thing was like, I need to go tell someone. And it's okay. It doesn't matter which one you are. Maybe you're an apostle. Maybe you're more like that. That was me. I was more like the disciples, like trying to figure it out on my own.

[51:42] Jesus, I'll talk to you in a minute once I figure out what your word means. You know, that was more me. You know, more like, hey, you need to go and do this now. I have a harvest. Go do it. Oh, okay. And then there's those that's like God does a work in their heart.

[51:54] They're gone. It's like, whoa, they're just out into the harvest. Turn to Acts chapter eight. We're going to end here briefly in Acts eight. In Acts chapter eight, we're going to pick up in verse four.

[52:09] Paul or Saul has ransacked the church. Stephen's just been put to death. And Saul is standing there agreeing with his death. Um, holding all of the clothes of those who stoned him.

[52:21] And after this, Saul just goes out of his mind and persecutes the church. Right? What he doesn't realize is he's just scattering laborers out into the harvest. Everyone flees from Jerusalem, all the believers.

[52:34] And it says in verse four, they were scattered abroad. Acts eight, verse four. And everywhere they preached the word. They began to just go and sow the word. Looking for that harvest.

[52:44] And then Philip went down to a city of Samaria. I wonder what city that was. Maybe Sychar. Maybe not.

[52:55] Philip was one of the deacons that was chosen. A man that we know was filled with wisdom and the spirit to oversee the ministry to the widows in Jerusalem there.

[53:05] And he goes down to a city of Samaria and preaches Christ unto them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake. Hearing and seeing the miracles which he did.

[53:18] For unclean spirits crying with a loud voice came out of many that were possessed with them. And many taken with palsies and that were lame were healed. There was great joy in the city. You wonder if the woman was there.

[53:31] Wonder if some of those men were there. Three years earlier Jesus had visited their town. They put their faith in him. She knew that he had promised her life-giving water.

[53:43] But the new covenant didn't come into effect until after the resurrection. Here comes Philip to say, hey, you remember that guy? Yeah, we heard. We heard he was put to death. We heard the one we thought was Messiah died.

[53:55] I mean, there is some rumor of him coming back to life. But then Philip says, no, let me tell you. Let me tell you what he did. Let me tell you what his words really meant. And they believe. Jump down to verse 14.

[54:08] Now when the apostles, which were at Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word of God, who did they send? Peter and John. And you know, as those boys are heading back up to Samaria, they're going, remember the last time we went to Samaria?

[54:24] Remember the last time we went to this town? Yeah, remember we were worried about Jesus eating? Oh, the things we said earlier in our Christian walk. Oh, the things we believed. Who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit.

[54:37] And we get the parentheses what that means. For as yet he was fallen upon or come upon or taken a hold upon, none of them, only that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

[54:51] So they come down and they believed and been baptized. It's not baptized and believe. Belief and baptized. And so if they believe, then as Jesus says to Nicodemus, hey, you'll be born again.

[55:02] They had received that. They received the new life of the Spirit. The apostles come now and say, hey, there's a gift that God leaves to his church. Specifically, Jesus has ascended to the Father to give the gift of the Spirit, the operation by which we operate in this life, in the harvest.

[55:17] It's a very wearying harvest to try and labor according to our own abilities. So he gives us one, a helper. And they received the Holy Spirit.

[55:31] And then verse 25, they stay there for a while, Peter and John. And then it says, Little did they know when Jesus said to them, I sent you to reap wherein you bestowed no labor.

[55:54] Little did Peter and John know the harvest that they would be privileged to reap. Little did they know what those words meant when Jesus says, I've sent you to reap a harvest here in Samaria.

[56:04] Man, you can't make that up on your own. You can't organize and plan and structure and program that. That thread that Jesus started, that God started with John the Baptist preparing the way for Messiah, led all the way to a revival that Peter and John years later, three years later, took part of.

[56:27] Only the Spirit of God can do that. When we labor in his harvest, we don't know. Only he does. The thread that we will start. I don't know.

[56:38] You don't know the avalanche of grace that that one pebble that you put on might start. Galatians 6, 9 says, The scripture right before that, as we know, says, Don't grow weary.

[57:05] The benefit package is amazing. Divine recompense, eternal results, a cause for joy and fellowship. We are privileged, guys, to go into the field with purpose, with provision, with priority, and with power.

[57:24] We don't go alone. He sent one to go with us. In Matthew chapter 9, Jesus is looking on the multitudes in Galilee. He's not in Samaria now.

[57:35] He's in the Galilee. And looking on the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them because they fainted. And they were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. And then said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.

[57:51] And I would think if it was me writing this or a man writing this, the next phrase would be, Go you therefore into the harvest. But it's not.

[58:02] Pray you. Pray you, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. You know, we don't go into that field alone. We go in relationship.

[58:15] We go with a message. We go without shame. We go in boldness. Amen. There's a work to be done. And God will do that work in and through our lives.

[58:27] All we have to do is just let him do it, right? Amen. If you like prayer, if you just want to talk, I'd love to talk and pray with you. Man, let's just be about his business this week.

[58:41] Make it our priority. Let his purposes be our purpose. But do it in his power. Amen. Amen. God bless you and keep you.

[58:53] The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. God bless you. Go forth and labor.

[59:03] Go forth and labor. laughter