Ep. 018 Gleaning the Fields

Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm podcast. We are a Bible-Believing Church located

in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part of the Christian Fellowship

Ministries with 3,000 churches around the world. We are a church focused on world evangelism,

discipleship and church planting. Here we will share recent sermons from P.H.S.A. Church

and other sermons from throughout our fellowship. I am Pastor David Bickford and I will be

your host for this podcast. I thank you for listening today and we hope these messages

are a blessing to you and bring you closer to God.

Hello and welcome back to the podcast. Again, my name is David Bickford. I'm the pastor

here in Salmon Arm, British Columbia. The message I have today is, Gleaning the Fields,

Prospecting for You. The text we will be working from is Matthew 28 verses 16 through 20. Before

Matthew 28:16–20

we jump into that, the subheading is Prospecting for You. Part of the reason why I was thinking

about this was I was thinking about some of my past experiences in sales and having worked

for multiple sales companies. My first sales job though was with a company called Edward

Jones. The way that they go to market after your training is they send you out there in

a territory and they tell you, go out and prospect, go find some customers basically.

The way you go about doing that is you put on a suit, you got your little name badge

that says Edward Jones and then who you are. You go and you knock on a bunch of doors and

you do what we call in sales, cold calling. Cold calling can be a lot of things. It can

be just picking up the phone and calling people. We've all had salespeople call us that way

but this form of cold calling is literally going door to door knocking on doors and just

trying to strike up a conversation with somebody. In this situation within Edward Jones, I was

a financial advisor. I'm asking them pretty sensitive questions about their financial situation.

If they've been working with anybody to help them prepare for retirement. Basically, I'm

right away going after something that's a very sensitive subject to them. I had to go

and do this over and over and over again. It just reminds me of how difficult that is

for a lot of folks, how difficult that was for me, how emotionally draining that can

be. When we come back to our text, our text that we're going to be looking at today is

for all extensive purposes, it's the Great Commission. It is what Jesus Christ has told

us to do going forward after he had died and rose from the grave and he was about to ascend

into heaven. It was his command to us as believers on bringing forth the gospel. Let's go ahead

and read that in verses 16 through 20, chapter 28.

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted. Jesus came and said to them,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples

of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold I am with you always to the

end of the age. This is the command from the Lord to the disciples and there's really no

wiggle room here. We're basically being told, go and make disciples of all the nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them

to observe all of the teachings that Jesus had given the disciples. Then he's saying,

but don't worry, I'm with you always till the end of the age.

In this situation we have to recognize that we are the meek, we are the poor in spirit

and we are only saved by the grace that comes directly from God. It's not of our own doing,

it is only through the grace and the work of grace that is from our Father in heaven.

We are called to be fishers of men but we are also called to be like the poor, to glean

the fields, to go find the fruit of the harvest that has fallen by the wayside, that is left

behind unwanted. That idea of gleaning the fields is as a harvester comes through and

takes the choices to fruits, there's always going to be stuff that's left, either fallen

on the ground or there's going to be stuff on the edges. That is what we're supposed

to do, we're supposed to pick that stuff up. This is a picture of Old Testament law where

it was actually written out in the law to leave the edges and to leave the left behind

stuff for the poor, for the people who do not have property, for the traveler. There's

this built-in safety net or welfare net that was built into the law that was there to take

care of the people who were less fortunate. As a church, we are supposed to be enacting

in this realm of bringing in the left behind so they can also partake in the banquet of

the Lord. Ultimately, this message that I'm preaching today came about because I was inspired

by a conference sermon from Pastor Tom Payne, one of our leaders in our fellowship, and

a conference from last January 2023. It really resonated with me. In Acts 1-8, it says,

"'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be

my witnesses in Jerusalem and all of Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.'"

This is what we're called to be, we're called to be witnesses of the gospel of Jesus Christ,

what it has done in our lives, and what it can do in your lives as well. The entirety

of the gospel is to share the message of Christ. The entire Bible is set up on the premise

of man falls and then God has a plan through Jesus Christ to bring us back into relationship

with him. In fact, the very name Christian was meant to invoke shame on those who were

living according to the way back in the first century church. It was a slur meant to be

something that was a form of ridicule, but the supernatural truth is that we are meant

to be Christ-like as Christians. As we live on earth, we are supposed to strive and focus

all of our efforts on becoming less of who we think we are and more of who Christ is.

So what does this mean? Am I supposed to lose myself for the sake of Jesus? I would say

yes, emphatically yes. In fact, we can see this in the scripture through examples of

those who received miraculous healings from Jesus, their faith in Christ, and the joy

that sprang out of that change in the lives of the men and women. It was so amazing that

even the threat of violence wouldn't stop them from speaking of the power that they

had in coming to Jesus Christ, in the healings of Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 722, it

says, for he who was called in the Lord as a bond servant is a freed man of the Lord.

Likewise, he who was free when called is a bond servant of Christ. This whole idea is

that even though we are free, because we're free of sin in Christ Jesus, we are bound

to Christ by that sacrifice. By the blood of Jesus Christ that washes us clean, we are

to be bound to him because he is our Savior. The woman of the well changed everything in

her life in an instant after meeting Jesus. So here is a Samaritan woman who became a

vocal evangelist for Jesus. She was the lowest of the social order. She was gathering water

during the day because the women of the town wouldn't allow her to be around them because

she was a harlot. She was living an unclean life. She was also a Samaritan, which meant

that even the disciples would be prejudiced against her because the Jews and the Samaritans

didn't intermingle. They didn't mix. It appears though that Jesus goes out of his way to interact

with this woman, this Samaritan woman, and he does this constantly with other cast offs

of society. In John 4, 7 through 10, we read, a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus

said to her, give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The

Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman

of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you

knew the gift of God, who is it that is saying to you, give me a drink? You would have asked

him and he would have given you living waters. My big takeaway with this little piece of

scripture is that immediately after coming face to face with Jesus, this woman is transformed

into a witnessing machine. It says later on in John 4, which we're going to read here

in a second, that because of her testimony, many others came to faith in Jesus Christ.

This situation unfolds where she is living a life of sin, segregated even amongst her

own people, even amongst the women of her own people because of the life she is living.

She is cast off, she is outside of the norms of society. She comes face to face with Jesus

Christ and then we see her life dramatically change. In verses 39 through 42 of John chapter

John 4 · chapter mention

4, it says, many Samaritans from the town believed in him because of the woman's testimony.

He told me all that I had ever did. So when the Samaritan came to him and they asked him

to stay with them, he stayed there for two days and many more believed because of his

word. They said to the woman is no longer because of what you said that we believe for

we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world. This

is a key takeaway here. It's a key important thing to remember. She did the witnessing,

which drew them to Christ and then in Christ with the relationship they found in Christ,

they got saved. So the grace of God came to them and worked a miracle in their heart.

But what initially drew them to them was the witness of the Samaritan woman. I get very

overwhelmed with the reality that we are called to have the same fire and zeal for the gospel.

We too are meant to take the good news of Jesus Christ to the highways and the byways.

It is not our place to judge the circumstance of those who we interact with, but rather

to share with them the message of the cross. In Luke 14, this is confirmed via the parable

of the great banquet. So let's pick this up. We're going to read verses 12 through 24.

The parable of the great banquet. He said also to the man who had invited him, when

you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives

or rich neighbors, lest they are also invite you in return and you are repaid. But when

you give a feast, invite the poor, the cripple, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed

because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.

When one of those who reclined at the table with him heard these things, he said to him,

blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. But he said to him, a

man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet, he

sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, come for everything is now ready.

But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, I have bought a field

and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused. And another said, I have bought

five yoke of oxen and I go to examine them. Please have me excused. And another said,

I have married a wife and therefore I cannot come. So the servant came and reported these

things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant,

go quickly to the streets and the lanes of the city and bring in the poor, the cripple,

the blind, and the lame. And the servant said, sir, what you have commanded has been done

and still there is room. And the master said to the servant, go out into the highways and

the hedges, compel people to come in that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none

of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. I find this to be an interesting

warning for us as Christians in the fact that we've had the invitation. We should not get

lazy with the gifts that we received from the Lord. We should not casually treat the

gospel as something that can be put off for a different day, for a different time. I find

that too much of the church world is content with this idea of being a social club. They

can interact as friends, they can invite people casually to service and get togethers, but

it's not for the sake of the gospel, but rather despite the gospel. The gospel is a secondary

piece of the fellowship that they tend to enjoy, where it should be the most important

part and purpose of the church's mission. What do I mean by that? Well, in our fellowship,

we are supposed to hold to witnessing and giving our testimony. We do this because it's

the power of that changed life that can and does affect people for Christ. It is the transformation

that happens in a life touched by God and changed that is powerful. It is not the movie

night, it's not the coffee, it's not the potlucks. All those things have their place

in building fellowship with your brethren, your brothers and sisters in Christ, but it

is the reality of the changed man or the changed woman. It is the drug addict that is set free

in Jesus name. It is the prostitute that is redeemed. It is the drunkard that gets sobered

and saves his family. It is the narcissist that becomes generous and humble. It is to

become less of yourself and more like Christ. This brings me to my first primary point,

which is facing who we are, the fallen and the sinful. With this reality, we need to

take a long hard look in the mirror at who we are. You might not have had a hard life

like the woman at the well or like one of those poor souls that was demon possessed

like the the garrisoned demonia. Maybe you just lie a little bit, steal a little. Maybe

you don't do any of that, but rather you are in your own mind, perfect, or at least not

as bad as the bums that live down the street. If that is where you are sitting, maybe you

are more like one of the Pharisees or Sadducees that in their hubris plotted against Christ.

How about this? Have you ever been walking down the street on outreach? You are out there

with the purpose of bringing forth the gospel and you say to yourself, that person does

not need me to witness to them. That person does not look like the type to come to church.

They do not look like the kind of person for me to witness to. I am sure this is not you

and you are truly going to witness to everybody or talk to everybody you meet and share the

gospel with them. That is great and that is awesome. I know that you have abundant fruit

coming forth from your life because of it. In Mark 5, 18-20 it says, As he was getting

into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with

him. He did not permit him, but said to him, Go home to your friends and tell them how

much the Lord has done for you, how he has had mercy on you. He went away and began to

proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him and everyone marveled. I am not

proud to say this, but I do struggle with witnessing all the time. Whether it is the

fear of rejection or maybe it is the fear that God is going to move and now I am going

to have a lot more work to do. I believe that as Christians we all battle this. I am not

trying to say shame on you if you battle this because I do myself battle this. The reality

is that we have to allow the love of Jesus Christ to work in our lives to the point where

our love for him is going to change our view of others to the point where we will love

our enemy and we will love those that we do not know as much as he loves them so that

love will overpower us so that we are compelled to share our testimony with everybody we interact

with so that they too can have the opportunity to turn to Christ. So early in our fellowship

history when we were still affiliated with another organization, the Four Square Church,

our lead pastor, pastor Wayman Mitchell, decided to work with the young hippies that were getting

saved during the Jesus People movement. This was one of the things that kind of caused

us to branch off from the Four Square because at the time there was a lot of people within

these larger or more structured church organizations that did not want these dirty hippies coming

into church. They felt that they needed to clean up their act before they could be part

of this Christian club. We do not see that scripturally. We see that you get saved, people

get saved, they come in. We want unsaved people coming in so that they can hear the message

and that God can deal with them because again it is only grace that separates us from them.

It is nothing of our doing. It is the grace of Jesus Christ that has done a miracle in

our lives and so we have to remember that it is our job to bring the gospel forth. We

are not gatekeepers of the gospel. We are supposed to be heralds of the gospel. My second

point is facing the perfection of Christ. The reality is that we all need to atone

for our sins. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, he made a point to seek out those

who were the sickest from their sin. He ministered to the sick, the unclean and the poor. He

did this with all authority and we can see this in our text in verse 18. All authority

in heaven and on earth has been given to me. This was after he had the resurrection. This

was also prophesied about in Daniel in 713. It says, I saw in the night visions and behold

with clouds of heaven there came one like the son of man and he came to the ancient

of days and was presented before him and to him was given dominion, glory and the kingdom

that all peoples nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting

dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

So here's an excerpt from a sermon that I found from Charles Spurgeon. This one was

titled perfection in Christ and it truly drives home this idea that we need to face our own

imperfections in order to understand the perfection of Christ. But then while speaking of the

doctrine of perfection, we must remember that according to the sacred oracles, perfection

is absolutely necessary for all who hope to enter heaven. We may have lost perfection

but that does not alter God's demand for it. It may be impossible that we should ever

be perfect in ourselves but God demands that we should be perfect. The holy law was given

to God and if we wish to be saved by it we must keep it perfectly. No man is not perfect

can ever hope to enter into heaven unless he can find perfection somewhere. In another,

if not in himself, he must be irretrievably ruined and driven from God's presence. No

man under the sun can ever walk the starry plains of heaven or tread the golden shoots

of bliss until he gets perfection somehow or somewhere. Let me tell you why. First of

all, it would be unjust if God did not punish man if he is not perfect. God required of

all men originally that they should keep his law entirely. Now if man is not perfect it

stands to reason that he must have broken God's law, otherwise he would be perfect.

Having broken it, God has said, I will punish sin, the soul that sinneth it shall die. And

with reverence to the Most High God we say it, if he does not punish every sin, he is

not a just God. If he does not exact the punishment for every transgression, there is a blot upon

his escunction, the whiteness of his throne is tinged with stains, and he is no longer

that awfully, severely just God we have considered him to be.

So Charles Spurgeon continues in this vein for a lot longer in that sermon, but it clearly

expresses our need for perfection and the reason for the judgment of sin. In order for

God to be just he must judge our sin. Spurgeon then brings us to the conclusion that we are

only made perfect in Christ. We know of Christ's perfection from throughout the Bible. In Hebrews

2, 10 it says, for it was fitting that he, for whom by whom all things exist, in bringing

many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

And then later in Hebrews 5, 8-10, although he was a son, he learned obedience through

what he suffered, and being made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation to

all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

And then finally in Hebrews 7, 26, 28 it says, for it was indeed fitting that we should have

such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above

the heavens. He has no need like those other high, like those high priests to offer sacrifices

daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once

and for all when he offered himself up. For the law appoints men in their weakness as

high priests, but the word of oath which came later than the law appoints a son who has

been made perfect forever. This completion of what was spoken about in the Old Testament

psalm. So this completed that. In 1-10-4 it says, the Lord has sworn and will not change

his mind, you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. So this brings me to

my final point which is facing the revelation of Christ's sacrifice. In his perfection

he died for us. When faced with revelation of Christ's perfection, the woman at the

well made an immediate and drastic change in her life. She became a powerful testimony

and she did not hide the gift that she had received from Jesus. She shared this with

everyone who would listen and because of that many others came to have faith in Christ.

And through Christ they will be made perfect as well. When faced with the perfection of

Jesus it's undeniable, but once you come to realize his perfect victory came through

his unstained sacrifice, then we get the real depth of the message today. Christ died for

us as a final sacrifice to bring us back into right relationship with the Father. He willingly

died on the cross for all of humanity's sins. He was beaten and abused, he was mocked and

slandered but even so he went to the cross and offered himself as a final sacrifice.

Hebrews 10-14 says, for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are

being sanctified. So as we close, I think it's critical to remember this sacrifice.

One of the thieves on the cross came to his senses as he hung there face to face with

the reality of the perfection of Christ and his own imperfection. He came to the reality

of the sacrifice that was made for him right there beside him on the cross. This earthquake

of revelation broke this man and he turned from his ways knowing he was being punished

for his sins that he committed but yet still Christ was sacrificing himself for those very

same sins. If you want to think about this in a different way, here is a man hanging

on the cross being judged for his sins and he's going to die because of those sins. But

when he dies and he passes on to eternity, God is not going to see his sins but he's

going to see his son Jesus Christ in his place. The eyes and the heart of the thief were broken

and he became immediately a powerful testimony from his own cross because of that revelation.

In Luke 23 verses 39-43 we see this. One of the criminals who were hanged railed against

Luke 23:39–43

him saying, Are you not the Christ? Save yourself at us. But the other rebuked him saying, Do

you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly

for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done nothing wrong

and he said, Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. And he said to him, Truly

I say to you, Today you will be with me in paradise. Even at the very end, those who

have a true revelation of Jesus Christ cannot help but testify unto his name. The reality

of his perfection and his subsequent sacrifice is too great. That is why we are called to

bear witness to his name. Above all else, we are to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ

to everyone. This is a challenge for sure, but it is only through the revelation of Christ

Jesus in our heart that we can find the strength to accomplish our calling. That is why we

need to pray to wash ourselves in the word of the Lord, to gather his brethren in the

church so that we will be emboldened to fulfill our calling. When we continually come face

to face with this reality of his loving sacrifice, it is impossible for us not to share what

he has done for us. So share his message, share his perfection and his sacrifice to

others, but also tell of your story, how Jesus has saved you from a life of sin, how he saved

you from sorrows, depression, anxiety, how he saved you from anger, hate and drunkenness.

Share your testimony so that others will be also led to salvation in Christ. If I could

have every head bowed, every eye closed as we wrap this whole message up. I just want

to touch, hone in. If this message is spoken to you and if God's dealing with your heart

right now, I want you to know there's hope. I want you to know there's a way for you to

accept the grace that's freely offered by God. It's as simple as just a recognition

of who you are and the fact that you lack perfection and you need the covering of Jesus

Christ. You need to be born again in Jesus Christ as he tells us in the scripture. It's

very simple. There's a simple prayer you can do and it just goes a little something like

this, dear Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner, but I know that you sent your son, Jesus Christ,

who died for my sins on the cross and he rose from the grave. I repent of my sins and I

accept your son Jesus to be my Lord and savior and I thank you for the grace that comes in

the salvation that comes from Jesus Christ and I give you all the praise and glory. Amen.

Simple prayer. All it is is a recognition of your sin. Acceptance of Jesus Christ as

your Lord and his deity and then that's salvation in a nutshell, just like the thief on the

cross. It doesn't even have to be a formal prayer or anything like that. It's just that

recognition of sin, repentance from sin, acceptance of Christ as your Lord. I want to thank you

for joining me again for this podcast. I pray that it has touched you. I'm going to ask

you to also like and share this podcast, however you're listening to it. Please help me get

this message out. Help us grow. There's a lot of things that we're doing in the church

that I'm going to be able to bring forward in the next few months, but I really want

to pray that God will breathe on us and that the gospel message goes further and further

forward. The whole point of this ministry is to bring the message forward. It's not

to argue with other Christians. It's not to argue with other people who don't believe

in Jesus. I'm not going to do that. My purpose is to bring the gospel forward. I'm not going

to deal with secondary and tertiary issues. I just want to bring a simple, clean gospel

message forward and share it with as many people as I can. If you live in Samarham,

come and join us for church. I'm more than happy to talk with you there and work with

you there. If you're not nearby and you need help finding a church, reach out to me as

well. I will help you find a church to lock into from one of the 3500 Potter's House or

Christian Fellowship Ministry churches that are in the world. We have lots of churches,

but we are all focused on a simple gospel message and bringing people to Jesus Christ

so that the grace of God can come into their life as well. Again, thank you for listening.

I can't wait for you to come back next time. God bless.