Matthew 9:36-38, “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. Then saith He unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.”

Dear brothers and sisters,

Yesterday was our church evangelism and there is evangelism on every first Saturday of the month. Does evangelism aim for the Church to grow in numbers? If we aim at numbers, we must be doing fine when the church gets bigger, otherwise we are not. Very seldom do we have a lot of us turning up for church evangelism on Saturday mornings. Perhaps, it is due to the lack of understanding of what church growth means. Evangelism may intend for numeric growth to that end but the growth of the Church means more than just the counting of heads. Church growth is a physical and spiritual growth but church evangelism means adding new souls to the kingdom of heaven. Modern Churches do not have evangelism as a ministry but have what they termed as a marketing plan. Their marketing plan is to tell people about themselves and the churches they come from. But the evangelism ministry is not about marketing the church or to boost one’s self- image. It is to have people to know Christ and their need to know Him as their Lord and Saviour. Those who are regular in our church evangelism may observe that more than three quarter of people that we come across are non- Christians. If Singapore’s population continues to grow, more will be added to the category of lost souls. That is why Jesus would say, “The harvest truly is plenteous” There are plenteous of lost souls and plenteous of work to be done. Jesus looking at the multitude of people around Him, was moved with compassion. He saw beyond the people’s physical needs to the deepest spiritual need of their souls. He shared what He saw with His disciples and said to them, “the harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

1.  He saw a fainting and scattering people who were wandering aimlessly through life without hope. Such may not be necessarily poor and in want but they have stable jobs, big bank accounts, big houses and cars. However, if you are able to look into their hearts, you will see their emptiness and hopelessness of life. Do we see the harvest as Jesus sees?

2. Jesus saw the multitude pushing and shoving to get to Him but He saw more of the potential for them to be saved. What do we see when we look at the people around us, their sins as a problem or the potential for them to be saved by Christ?

3. Jesus saw a plenteous harvest, a pitiful people and the problem of labor shortage in the field. Do you see the harvest as Jesus sees and go to where the harvest is?

Jesus says, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest.”

Why must we pray? Because the harvest of souls is God’s work and only God can accomplish it by His power. He is the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers and He alone will work in our hearts to have the desire to go to the field where the harvest is ready. Do you see the fields as Jesus sees, for they are white already to harvest?

Pastor Douglas Ho