Pastor Bill“The Harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved.” Jeremiah 8:20. This is one of the most haunting statements in the entire Bible.

Jeremiah was in the city of Jerusalem and he had been warning the nation of doom and disaster. Their cities would be destroyed; the people would be either killed or taken captive. Jeremiah warned the people that only God could deliver them from the armies of Babylon that were marching toward the city. But they did not listen. Instead they formed an alliance with Egypt to fight the Babylonians. But Babylon defeated Egypt and marched on Jerusalem. They surrounded the city and laid siege to the people. Now back in those days people lived within the walls of the city, and the crops were outside the walls. The army simply waited for the people to run out of food and surrender. All the people could do was watch the crops spoil, the harvest wither, the summer end, and say that there is no loss like the loss of the harvest.

Jesus refers to the harvest as winning souls for salvation and the inclusion into our church family. It is a fact that the fastest growing churches in America are not Christian. Among those that are expanding most rapidly are the Mormons, the Jehovah’s witnesses, Muslims and various cults. Are we prepared to listen to the warnings? The reality is that for Christianity the harvest is passing globally, nationally and individually.

Christianity is in direct conflict with these other religions. The Muslim religion forces people into conversion, kills people or forces them into slavery. Christianity is a true religion of peace but make no mistake we are competing for the souls of people who have not selected a religion.

There is decay within the Christian faith, faith is fading and many are ignoring their responsibly to warn and point people to Jesus. Over half of everyone we run into is lost, and it is a growing population. Are we merely going to stand by and watch the loss?

There are people to reach and there is work to be done. One of the greatest dangers to the modern church is that the church doesn’t see soul winning as its most important work. Sadly most everything else comes before the work of reaching the lost with the Word of God.

If only we could see people differently, really look into people’s hearts, we might be able to see the turmoil, fear, loneliness and desperation. Many people are lost and have no answers to their questions. There are people without hope. They need someone to see them as they really are and still love them enough to tell them about Jesus.

Without a relationship with Him, people are doomed and we need to remember that. There are people all around us who need Jesus; we need to do something about it. Surely we care about them and want to see them saved by grace. If we can see the harvest through God’s eyes, we will not be content to merely see it; we will want to work to see men saved. We need to be doing what we can while we can and leave the results with God knowing that our labor is never in vain.

Our country is filled with large churches, yet there are still people on our busy streets that are without hope and without God in this world. As a pastor in this community, my prayer is that people in our churches will pray and participate in this Harvest, reaching out to the lost. People all around the world need to hear the gospel.

God values each of us and He loves us. But if death came for us today, would we be ready? If not, we would face a certain judgment. That’s the last thing God wants to happen to us. That’s why He sent Jesus.

If we refuse to listen we can face something worse than going to hell. We can actually go to hell and take some else with us. But if we believe and share the good news we can experience something even better than going to heaven. We can go to heaven and take others with us.

Listen up! Put your ear to the ground, there is a thundering sound, Niagara Falls is ahead and the world is headed downstream in a straw basket. “Work while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work.”

John 9:4

There are people all around us and all over the world who are slipping out through the jaws of death into a Christless eternity. People who are lost need a champion, a rescuer, a Savior and they can find that and more in Jesus. Can we join hands for the harvest that people might come to Jesus?”

Please join us this Sunday at First Baptist Church. We meet Sunday mornings at 8:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. We are located at 700 Hardy Way. For more information, transportation or to request prayer call 702-346-7061 and please visit our website at fbcmesquite.com.