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Chapter 35

Reaping Where Others Labored

Laboring for Others to Reap

“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. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.” (John 4:35-38)

Here are biblical motives for missions and evangelism. Any time men and women are called upon to do something unusual, to make sacrifices for a cause, they must have something to motivate them. I call upon all who are God’s elect to devote their lives to the cause of Christ, to devote everything God has put in your hands to the furtherance of the gospel, the salvation of God’s elect and the building of Christ’s kingdom, and I call upon myself to do the same, because this is the only opportunity we have to do so.

Here in John 4:35-38, our Savior tells us that one great motive for all evangelistic, missionary endeavor is just this – The time is now. This is the time of opportunity. The Master here tells us that we are never to think or act as if there is some future time for evangelization. He says, “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.”

I call upon all who have experienced the mercy, love, and grace of God in Christ to devote themselves anew to the business of preaching the gospel. Let us indeed be his witnesses at home and abroad. Let us, like David of old (Acts 13:36), serve our generation according to the will of God. This is our mission. This is the calling, vocation, and life work of every child of God in this world. The Lord our God has left us here to serve this one purpose. He has left us here to preach the gospel, to make Christ known in the generation in which we live.

The Reasons

First, let me show you the reasons given in Holy Scripture for this great work. Without question, there are many, many more reasons and motives for evangelism and missions than I can give here. I have had to limit myself to just a few of the most prominent. But, after much thoughtful, prayerful consideration, I have selected seven noble reasons for this great work. Here are seven things which should constantly motivate us in the work God has given us to do.

1. The Glory of God — “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)

2. The Great Commission — We have our orders from our Commander-in-Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ. The orders are crystal clear, we are, everyone of us who are born of God, to go forth into all the world preaching the gospel. These orders are given numerous times, in one way or another, through the Scriptures. But they are specifically recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and the Book of Acts. In each place the emphasis is different; but the orders are the same. Matthew emphasizes the authority of Christ as Lord and King. – “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore into all the world, and preach the gospel” (Matthew 28:19-20). Mark’s emphasis is the wrath of God and salvation from it (Mark 16:15-16). Luke presents the great commission as the fulfilling of the Old Testament Scriptures (Luke 24:44-49). In John’s account, the Savior’s commission is given to us in connection with his own commission from the Father. — “As my Father hath sent me into the world, so send I you” (John 20:21). In the Book of Acts, the great commission is specifically stated as the program and purpose of Christ’s church and kingdom in this world (Acts 1:8).

3. The Wrath of God — All who are without Christ are lost and under the wrath of God (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). All who are ignorant of God, ignorant of Christ, ignorant of the gospel are perishing. Our sons and daughters are going to hell! Our mothers and fathers are about to meet an angry God in judgment! Our neighbors and friends are under the wrath of God! The world around us is perishing! Let us love our enemies and do good to those who spitefully use us, just as we do our own families, doing the most compassionate thing we possibly can for them. Preach the gospel to them.

4. The Love of Christ — “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

5. The Opportunity We Have — “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.” (John 4:35)

We ought to be motivated in the work of preaching the gospel by the opportunity which each succeeding day thrusts upon us. Do you recall our Lord’s promise, when he gave the commission? He said, “Lo! I am with you alway!” He promised us his presence; and it is his presence with us which gives us the opportunity. It is Christ’s presence that makes our opportunities. It is his presence which opens doors of utterance for the gospel, and makes them effectual.

The Master speaks here in a parabolic manner. It is common for men to plow a field and sow their seed and then wait for the harvest. But our Lord here tells us that in the work of the gospel, we must never labor with the notion that the harvest is for another day. Rather, we are to labor in his vineyard in the expectation of an immediate harvest, because we are reapers where others have sowed, and others will reap where we sow sheaves of harvests gathered from seed sown by someone else.

We cast our bread upon the waters, knowing that it shall return in due time; but while we are casting, the bread cast by someone else is returning. We go forth in the morning scattering the precious seed of the gospel, with weeping hearts; but we go forth with the joyful prospect of coming back in the evening bearing our sheaves of harvest. This is exactly what was promised in the Old Testament prophecies of this gospel age, when Messiah is present upon his throne in his Kingdom (Leviticus 26:5; Psalm 126:5-6; Amos 9:13).

6. The Election of Grace — The purpose of God in election and predestination assures us that our labor in the Lord is not and cannot be in vain. The apostle Paul frequently referred to God’s purpose of grace in election as his motive in preaching (2 Timothy 1:1, 8-12; Titus 1:1-3).

7. The Honor of Service — Oh, what an honor it is that God has put the great treasure of his gospel in such earthen vessels as we are, and uses such things as we are to tell others about his wondrous, matchless, free and saving grace in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:8; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31).

The Rewards

Second, in verse 36, our Lord speaks plainly about the rewards which shall be given to those who serve the interests of his kingdom, to those who serve the souls of men for the glory of God by the gospel. — “And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.”

The wages we shall receive are the souls of men. — “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (1 Thessalonians 2:19) And the fruit we gather is everlasting. Ours is no ordinary work. Ours is not a labor of temporary significance. Oh, no! The fruit we gather is “unto life eternal.” Yes, what we are doing is of everlasting importance to the souls of men and of everlasting importance to the glory of the Triune God!

The Reapers

Third, observe what our Lord tells us about the reapers in verse 36-38.

“And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.”

Our Savior here tells us several things we need to always bear in mind: (1.) All God’s servants are one. (2.) It matters not whether we sow or reap. Actually, all who sow do some reaping, and all who reap do some sowing. (3.) He who sows and he who reaps are alike insignificant. — God gives the increase!

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I consider myself a debtor. I have the medicine a dying world needs. Were I to keep it to myself, I would be guilty of the highest crime imaginable, the everlasting ruin of immortal souls!

“I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:14-17)

Read our Lord’s words again, asking God the Holy Ghost to apply them to your own heart by his grace.

O my soul, let it never be said of me, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and thou art not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20). As in nature, there is a seed time and harvest, so it is in grace. And we are told, that the Lord has given “the appointed weeks of harvest” (Jeremiah 5:24).

As the wheat ripens, it becomes more golden and weighty. The fuller and riper the grain, the more it bends toward the earth. So it is with the child of God. As he grows in the grace and knowledge of Christ, he is ripened for the garner of heaven. The more he is filled with spiritual life, the lower he becomes in his own eyes; and Christ Jesus is increasingly precious and exalted. And when the Lord signals that it is his harvest-time, the believing sinner comes to the grave “like a shock of corn in his season” (Job 5:26).

Blessed Savior, Lord of the harvest, carry on your work of grace in my heart; and let your gospel ever abide in my heart as good seed cast into ground made good by your grace, springing up, growing and fruitful! Oh, prepare me for the harvest! When you put forth your sickle, let me be gathered into your garner in heaven!

Don Fortner

Pastor Fortner’s