Jesus and the Woman at the Well Part 5: Two Lessons for Every Follower of Jesus - John 4:27-38

0:55And in this context, a true worshiper is indeed born. We saw that last time, came to that point. A few thoughts on worship before we move on to the new material: is that worship is simply man doing what he was created to do. I boil worship down. It's just that. It's you and I simply doing what we were created to do, and that is to reflect God. That's the whole design of man. Man was made to bear the image of God, and it is sin that has tarnished, suppressed, made a mockery out of that image.

1:44But really, worship is man just responding to his Creator and simply reflecting God in the totality of our beings. So worship isn't just here and now, it's everywhere man may be in all of our activities, in all of our relationships, in all of our affairs. It's important to remember and recall, we are not God, right? We are created to reflect God. There's a difference. We are created to reflect God so that others can see God. This is the privilege and the dignity of being human.

2:35It's the dignity that we all share. And such dignity was not given to the animals. We can look at the animals, we can look at the squirrels, we can look at the deer, we can look at the elephants. You put any kind of animal in there, and you'll see something about God Himself. You will see something about His goodness, His provision, His faithfulness. Creativity. I mean, wow, he's got some good ones out there, right? But you don't see God. You don't look at an elephant and see the image of God. That is what you see when you look at man, an image-bearer of God. That is the dignity we all share. And when we embrace His will internally, we will reflect Him externally. And so something has to change in the heart of man. Fallen man has to be redeemed. A fresh spring needs to come into that broken cistern so that what will come out will be a true reflection of God.

3:45And listen, your supreme satisfaction, my supreme satisfaction in life is going to be found in reflecting God. That's where your satisfaction is going to be. Sin and sorrow results when we refuse to be what God created us to be. Right? And the reality is that no person, no thing, no position, no possession, no pleasure in life is going to satisfy you. Only God can. And so worship is what happens when biblical truth engages the inner person.

4:27When God Himself is interacting. In the soul of man. And what happens is there becomes a true reflection, a response that reflects God. As we saw last time, that those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The location is in spirit, God is spirit, and so it's not tied to a building, it's tied to man's spirit, and wherever man's spirit takes him is a sanctuary for worship. But it's not spirit only, it's spirit and truth.

5:07Truth, who God really is, the true God, the God revealed in the scriptures. All other gods are not God. Sincerity, it's not truth and sincerity. I mean, it's not spirit and sincerity, it's spirit and truth. It's not spirit and your perception of truth or your subjective understanding of truth, it is spirit and truth, and one cannot exist without the other. So, worship is the soul engaging. And this is what Jesus came looking for. This is why he had to go through Samaria, to find just such a true worshiper.

5:47Now, may I take a moment and just address the worship team this morning, those who are on the platform, and I can throw in there all those who taught this morning and everyone else who served in some sort of ministry function this morning. Morning. Listen, I appreciate your service. I was moved this morning. Thank you. And I'd like to think that as all of you are up here on the platform leading us in worship, that what we saw up here, what we heard up here, was an exhibition of people who were enraptured with the glory of God and it was just coming out. That what was happening up here was your soul was so taken with the beauty of Christ that you couldn't help but sing, that you had to employ your gifts to honor Him publicly and to lead us in honoring Him.

6:43Was that what was going on? I hope so. And teachers, you who taught the Word this morning, was the material something that you taught? Was it something that had engrossed your soul? And the truth that you passed on to others, was it something that totally captivated you? Or was it merely something you were just rattling off? Was your soul engaged with the Creator? This is what true worship is. It's an overflow, right? And there's a lot of reasons to be on the platform. There's a lot of reasons to be in places. There's a lot of places in. In the pews, right? Many of you sat and sung. Was it a true interaction? Did we all participate?

7:41That's those questions and a little convicting because I'm up here communicating the text, right? Listen, true worship. And as you come to this woman, we are as helpless to truly worship God on our own as this woman from Samaria was. Unless something happens in us and to us, we cannot worship. We cannot be true worshipers. In fact, I'll say we are utterly incapable on our own of true worship. We need something from God to cause us to truly worship Him. We need an empowerment. We need a desire planted in us.

8:26We need His very Holy Spirit. We need living water to fill these broken cisterns to control. Before we even go on, I think we can't even really listen to the message. We can't even really engage and interact with this scripture unless God's Spirit is given to us. Let's just go to the Lord in prayer. Father, in Christ's name we come before you. There is no way we can follow him. There is no way we can love what he loved. There is no way we can be satisfied with what he was satisfied with. There is no way we can esteem the things he esteems unless you do a work in us. And there is no way we can love the one he loved.

9:22I absolutely, we absolutely cannot follow you unless you give us the same spirit that he has. So, Father, we come this morning like this woman asking you for living water totally, fully, and completely. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So, Jesus, as he is dispensing living water to this woman, first thing, he causes a he brings up a conviction of sin, right? Second thing, he tells her, you must believe in me. Third thing, he declares himself to be the Messiah. Look at verse 26 and those words.

10:10The most express self-statement of Jesus declaring himself to be Messiah in the New Testament. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When that one comes, he will declare all things to us. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. And at that point, she gets it right. She takes it in. The conviction of sin has led to an embracing of the Messiah. He has pulled the scales off. He has revealed himself to her. And that is the drink. That is the living water flooding into her. It's an awakening. So, let's continue going in this narrative.

10:58And it's at this point, there's an interruption. Look back at verse 27. At this point, his disciples came, and they were amazed that he had been speaking with the woman. Yet no one said, What do you seek? Or why do you speak with her? So what's taking place? They are amazed. They are marveling. Don't really know what to say. He's talking to a woman. And just so you know, the esteem of women at this time was not very high. And I'm just going to state it like that and not really get into it. But I could quote to you several things that would probably make your, I don't know, what the expression would be. But anyway, it would be quite shocking, some of the things, printed materials. But just so you know, it is Christ who bestowed the dignity upon woman far more than any pagan culture, far more than any other religion. It is Christ who gives honor. And he is speaking to this woman. And it surprises.

12:00His disciples. Yet they don't even ask, like, okay, what are you after? What's going on here? Maybe they're thinking he's asking her for food or something like that, but they didn't even ask. But they're about to find out. They're about to find out what this conversation was all about. So they interrupt. Then look at the invitation, what I would call, look at verse 28. So the woman left her water pot and went into the city and said to the men, you see what she's doing there? The woman left her water pot, number one. Number two, she went into the city. Number three, she said to the men, the men are probably men sitting at the gate, which would be very customary at the time. Men sitting at the gate discussing business of the city and all kinds of conversations where it would happen at the gate. So she probably goes to the men of the gate and she says, Come, come. This is the same invitation that Andrew said to Peter, Come, we have found the Christ. Right? Philip goes to Nathaniel, and here is this woman. Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done. This is not the Christ, is it?

13:15Her mind, it's settled, but it's like, you come out and discover for yourself. And look at verse 30. They went out of the city and were coming to him. These are some marks of a real change in her life. Number one, her shame is gone. This is a woman that's been married five times, and the man she's living with is not her husband. This is a woman well known, for sure. But the first mark of genuine change is this loss of shame and a desire, second, a desire to share her joy with what she found and a boldness. Wow, she goes to the men. She went to the first, run right to the gate, gets to the man that's wrought, and she lays it out there. Let me come, come, you must come, is actually the way she said, Come, you must come and see this man. Well, she convinced him. Something in her testimony was real and rang true. And so, look back, they went out to the city and were coming to them. It's a continual action going on here. It's like a parade of traffic. You get this picture of people coming to him. So that's what's going on with the woman. She goes into the city. Meanwhile, we encounter a teaching moment. Jesus teaches his disciples two of the most important lessons they will ever learn. Let's just pick it up and read it now. Verse 31.

14:50Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples were saying to one another, No one brought him anything to eat, did he? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say there are four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal, so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case, the saying is true: one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.

15:45Well, I want you to learn two lessons that every follower of Jesus must learn so that you will know how to follow him well. Two lessons that every follower of Jesus must learn. Two lessons that the disciples this day had to learn. And if you will learn these lessons and they will characterize your life, I guarantee you, when you stand before your Lord, you will hear the words, Well done, good and faithful servant. Two lessons. Two lessons. One deals with spiritual food, and the other one deals with spiritual labor. Spiritual food and spiritual labor. First, we'll look at the lesson of spiritual food. Look at verse 13. Meanwhile, literally in between time, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. You must eat. So they've come back with food. You sent us out to get food. We got some food. Come back. You're tired. It's been a long journey. You must eat.

16:47But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. Saying, okay, he's saying, I have food. I am having a stash of food that you are completely unaware of. That's what he's saying. I've got food, and you are completely unaware. It's a stash that you don't have any idea, you don't know about. So in verse 33, the disciples were saying to one another, no one brought him anything to eat, did he? I mean, that's a likely question, right? If Jesus says, I have food that you don't know about, well, then who brought him that food? I didn't do it. Did you do it? No, I didn't agree to do it. Okay, so they're asking, right?

17:30Now let's think through this for a moment. Food is for nourishment, right? Physical food nourishes the body. Plain and simple. However, we can tell, and it's clear here that Jesus isn't talking about physical food, is he? No, he's talking about spiritual food. And just as physical food nourishes the body, spiritual food does what? Nourishes the soul, right? Nourishes the spirit. So. Look back at verse 34 and look at Jesus' definition of spiritual food. Very plain, laid out there. Verse 34, Jesus said to them, My food is, you can put an equal sign if you're a math person, right? My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and circle and, that's your plus sign, right?

18:24And to accomplish his work. My food is to do the will and accomplish his work. To do the will of who? Of the one who dispatched me, the one who sent me. My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to accomplish the work of the one who sent me. That's what Jesus is saying. He's saying, my food is to consume his will and accomplish his work. That's food for me. You don't know about this food, but that's why I'm teaching you about this food. Jesus is teaching his disciples. You see, Jesus, the first element was to do the will of him who sent him.

19:16That was his food, first element. Jesus was a doer of the will of God. He was one who did the will. I'm reminded of the words of James 1:22, but prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely. Merely hearers who delude themselves. Just hearing isn't going to revive. Doing revives. Being obedient gives life. It is food. It brings spiritual nourishment. But hearing doesn't. Just hearing, merely hearing. Second aspect of his spiritual food is that he must accomplish the work of him who sent him. And what is God's work in human history? To redeem and restore the fallen image-bearer. God is seeking true worshipers. And so Jesus has come to seek, to save, to redeem, to restore the image-bearer of God so that true worship will flow. So his food is to consume his will and accomplish his work. Jesus' disciples didn't understand what drove Jesus.

20:35They're learning. And what Jesus is laying out here is that his satisfaction is doing God's will and carrying out his mission. You know, sometimes when you get really burdened for something, if something really is heavy on your mind, you lose your appetite, don't you? If you're going through a struggle, a pain, a sorrow. Well, on the flip side of that, when something really Good happens and really excites you and really takes you to the heights in joy, and you also forget to eat as well. And that's what's taking place here. While the disciples were gone, Jesus was active in carrying out the work of the one who sent him.

21:24And he found this woman and enjoyed the labor, the response, the work actually revived him. Remember, he's wearied from his journey in verse 6. And so they were revived. He was revived. So Jesus got excited about what took place. And that spiritual nourishment, that food, strengthened even his physical being. You know, the reason that so many people and churches become weak is because they stop being doers of the work, of the word. And they lose the mission of the one who sent them. Somehow, in all our Christianity, it's very easy to get caught up in non-essentials, to lose connection and lose connection with the word, or certainly we can slip into being hearers only. We can lose the mission. In fact, I could say much of the denominations that you see around our landscape today are testaments to great movements of the past.

22:44And some movements in the future, I mean, in the present. But certainly, after coming back from Europe and studying Luther and Zwingli and Calvin and the Anabaptists, something happens. Right now, I would say that place is spiritually dead, largely. And this illustration, you've heard this illustration before, some of you, that what God does is he finds a man, and that man awakens, comes to God, and then God, through that man, begins a movement, and then that movement becomes a machine, and then that machine becomes a monument. And then God goes and looks for another soul.

23:35Well, if the disciples are going to be like Jesus, they're going to have to learn what gives him strength. If you and I are going to be disciples of Jesus, we need to understand what drove him, what strengthened him. And listen, doing God's will is not going to drain your spiritual reserves. Doing God's will is going to energize you. That's what it did to Christ. And if you're a follower of Christ, know that that's what's going to feed your soul as well: doing, being a doer of God's will and active in his work.

24:22You know, one of the things in my business as an engineer through the years, in whatever job I had, very early, I learned something about myself. I made an observation that what drove me in my business and what drove me in the work I did was the good pleasure of the one I was serving. In fact, if I got a raise, that was good. But it was the well done. I had some clients that when I heard from them, you did exactly what I said and you did it well. That's what drove me.

25:10That's what I lived. That's what I did when I wanted to be my best. That's what really drove me in my business. It was hearing those words, good job. Good job. I think there's an analogy here. Jesus was the same when he's like, he wanted to hear the Father, good job, good job. And that's what drove him. And that's what drove him. And if we follow him, it's going to drive us as well. So the lesson of spiritual food is that strength comes from doing the will and the work of God. There's a second lesson here, a second lesson, and that's the lesson of spiritual labor. The lesson of spiritual food tells us how to be energized. The lesson of spiritual labor tells us how to spend your energy. Okay, so how to be energized? That's the lesson of spiritual food. You do the will of God.

26:12How to expend that energy is to give yourself into spiritual labor. And you can boil the labor down into one concept here, and that's the harvest. The harvest. And that's the context, and that's where we'll pick it up in verse 35. And there's three aspects of this lesson: three dimensions. There's the dimension of seeing, there's the dimension of sharing, and the dimension of serving, the dimension of seeing the harvest, sharing in the harvest, and serving the Lord of the harvest. And I just want to look at these aspects of this lesson that Jesus spoke to his disciples this day. Verse 35: Do you not say there are yet four months and Then comes the harvest.

27:05So, what do you, there's a, there's an issue there. Like, what is what is he getting at? Some see this as a proverb, as Jesus is saying, okay, like a proverb saying, like, do you guys have a saying that four months and then the harvest? It would be an equivalent saying to something like Rome wasn't built in a day. So there's this saying, like, okay, four months and then comes the harvest. Or is it a description of the timeline?

27:37There are four months that he's literally pointing out that there are four months from this point to the harvest. And that involves the timeline. I would say that it certainly could be either. And I'm not going to get hung up with it. If it is the timeline, I think we're talking about sometime in the summer here. So this would be for the harvest, speaking of around the time of the fall for tabernacles. Tabernacles happens right after the harvest.

28:09But it's clear what's saying here. Look, keep going. There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest. Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are white for harvest. What he is saying is clear that the harvest is happening now. You may look upon the landscape, whatever time of the year. Year it is, it's clear it's not harvest time. It is either summer and there's going to be barren fields, or it is December and it is going to not have any, it's not harvest time either. Regardless, what Jesus is saying is the harvest is happening now, and the harvest is happening near you. That's what he's telling his disciples. And it is a harvest of righteousness. Okay? Stay close to what has just happened in the text. Think about it. An immoral, lost, and lowly Samaritan woman became a true worshipper of God. A harvest of righteousness. What has taken place is a soul has been redeemed. New water. And that's, I think of those stones that were in these little tumblers I used to have growing up. And you would tumble these stones, and each of these stones were different. And they would come out shiny and very different after they went through this process. And that's the work of what God is doing. He loves humanity, and he loves coming in and taking that spirit and renewing, awakening, recausing a rebirth, fresh water coming into the soul of man. And then there is a personality, there is a character, there is a beauty that comes out of that life. That is what God is about. And that is a harvest of righteousness. And that is what has just happened. A renewed soul. So this woman is an example of the depth of the harvest. Look, what has just taken place. And the men are coming, exemplify the breadth of the harvest. Now, think about when he said, lift up, and this is a very interesting word here. When he says, lift up your eyes, it's the same word is used of lifting up a sail.

30:30Lifting up a sail in Acts 27 and 40. Lifting up a sail. So if you think about this, lift up, lift up your eyes and look around you and see what is going on. There are a lot of people like this woman. There are a lot of people like these coming from the city. That is what he's saying. Look around you. And some of those people that are out there are in here this morning, by the way. So look around here.

30:58But that's what he's saying. The harvest is happening now. The harvest is happening near you. If you think about what would they have seen? Well, they wouldn't have seen a crop out there in the field. It wasn't time for a crop. So they would have looked at it. I showed you some pictures. You remember of Shechem and where this well was. And if you remember one of those pictures that was taken back in the 1800s, it looked out over the whole landscape there, or early 1900s. And it's just fields, fields, and fields. They're perched up high on close to Mount Ebol, and you could look out. And so there'd been all these fields, and there wouldn't have been any. It wouldn't have been white for harvest. It wouldn't have been ready for harvest.

31:42But they also would have seen a bunch of men coming from the city. And here's Jesus saying, Lift up your eyes. The fields are white with harvest. See what's going on. And customary dress would have been white-type robes. So if you can just picture the scene, what's going on, he's saying, Look, what's happening around you is a harvest is happening right now. So see the harvest. See the harvest. Three aspects of the lesson. We're going to keep going of spiritual labor. Three aspects of the lesson of spiritual labor. First, you need to see the harvest. Second, share in the harvest. Look at verse 36. Already, he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal.

32:37Stop there for just a second and we'll pick that up. The one who is reaping, two things are said. Look at this in verse 36. The one who is reaping, two things. Number one, he is receiving wages, and two, he is gathering fruit for eternal life, for life eternal. Same thing. The one Who is reaping is gaining, he is receiving his wages, and he is gathering fruit. The wages he receives, we can look at these in the context, come up with: well, there's joy, there's satisfaction. We know the wages will be eternal wages, a crown of glory, some wages of joy and satisfaction that's not going to fade away. The fruit that he is gathering is eternal fruit, and these are souls, souls plucked from destruction, souls like this woman.

33:45You know, this eternal reward is seen in Daniel 12:3. Listen to these words: those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness like stars forever and ever. So, the one who is reaping, currently reaping, is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal. He will, she will shine like stars forever and ever. So, already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal. Now, look back at verse 36. That. Look at that. Circle that. Why? What? What is the purpose for the reaping? Sow that. So that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case, the saying is true: one sows and another reaps. Now, this is where this gets really exciting. Okay? Dial in. If you haven't dialed in, dial in now. Look at this. Look at this.

34:59The one who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit. So that, so that the one who is sowing and the one who is reaping may rejoice together. There is going to be a shared rejoicing. And listen, this truth is here to eradicate any competition in ministry, no matter who you are. I mean, do you ever feel like, well, I'm less significant than some of the other folks in ministry? Have you ever felt that way? Do you ever get envious of other people? Do you ever kind of get, well, I worked so hard with this person and then this person over here led the person to Christ? I worked hard. I mean, have you ever had the, I haven't had those thoughts, but I'm sure some of you have, right? I'm just trying to lay it all out there, right?

35:56I mean, do you ever feel disgruntled that God hasn't moved you? Up farther in the ladder? Have you ever had those thoughts? Well, pay attention because this glorious truth is for you and it's for me. But before we go there, I want to set the stage by giving you an understanding or a look at what the Bible says about a physical harvest. We're talking about harvest. So I want you to understand what the Bible says about harvest so you can appreciate this concept of sower and reaper sharing together. Well, first of all, harvest is always pictured as a time of joy. I mean, throughout Scripture, it is a time of joy, it is a time of celebration. I won't do this exhaustively, but just give you a couple of instances of this. In Isaiah 9:3, God is talking about the blessed nation. And he says, This, you shall multiply the nation, you shall increase their gladness. They will be glad in your presence as the gladness of the harvest. The joy of a harvest. They will be so glad in your presence, like those who are joyful in the harvest. So that is one element. It's a time of joy. In Deuteronomy 16, 13, listen to this, and I want you to see the communal participation in this harvest. Speaking about the feast of booths, Deuteronomy 16, 13, Moses says, This, you shall celebrate the feast of the booths seven days after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and your wine vat, and you shall rejoice in your feast. Now, get this, and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son, and your daughter, and your male and female servants, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow who are in your towns. Harvest was to be a time of communal celebration. It was a joy for everyone. Now, I want you to, I want to also survey another situation that speaks about the harvest, and it's a cursed condition, a very cursed condition.

38:22A repeated theme throughout Scripture is this cursed condition when somebody plants and somebody else reaps what was planted. Listen to what the law says. Deuteronomy 28:30, as Moses is declaring the curses. God says, This, you shall build a house, but you will not live in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit. Listen to Job's contention. Does he not see my ways and number all my steps? If I have walked with falsehood and my foot has hastened after deceit, let him weigh me. With accurate scales and let God know my integrity. He's like, let me lay out my integrity before you, God. If my step has turned away from the way, let me sow and another reap. Let me go to work and let somebody else. Listen to what Solomon has to say.

39:18Ecclesiastes 2, 17, so I hated life, for the work had been done under the sun was grievous to me, because everything is futility and striving after the wind. Thus I hated, strong words, by the way, all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. In other words, I cannot enjoy the fruit of my labor forever. That is a cursed condition, says Solomon. And he goes on, Ecclesiastes 4, 4 says, I have seen every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between man and his neighbor. This too is a striving after the wind. A rivalry. We even see that in ministry sometimes, don't we, right? A rivalry. Sometimes we see it's true in ministry. But Jesus turns this whole notion upon its head, upside down. Things are very different in his kingdom. So he says, look back at verse 17. 36, already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case, the saying is true: one sows and another reaps. Instead of dividing the planter and the reaper, Jesus joins them. His perspective is: both participate in the results of the work, both experience the joy.

40:58Think about it like this: let's just kind of invite you into this conversation. We'll have a conversation for just a second. Let's suppose, by God's grace, somebody here today, as I work through this passage in John, comes to Christ. Who gets the credit for it? I mean, I'm preaching it, right? Shouldn't I get credit for it? Should I get some credit? I mean, should I get some, do I have a value to rejoice in it? Yeah, okay.

41:34Let's suppose that person came here because somebody he knew that he was going to get a breakfast. So, who gets to rejoice now, right? He wouldn't have even heard the word unless there was somebody making a breakfast, right? Or maybe it's the person needed a ride and somebody picked him up, or maybe it was a friend. Who gets the credit here? I hear God. God. Yes. Okay, yeah, of course, God gets the credit. Okay, but now let's suppose here he is.

42:08We're at the judgment seat of Christ, and he's handing out rewards, and he's singling out this soul. And who gets the opportunity to rejoice the more? So, yeah, God's overall, and he's, but who gets to really take part in the joy? Well, how about John? I mean, John wrote, I mean, John gets some part in that, right? I mean, he wrote, or was it John's mother who raised him to fear God? Or was it John the Baptist who came along in his life and sowed truth into his life? Or maybe it's Jesus. Obviously, Jesus is the one who pointed this out, right? But of course, she knew about the law and she knew about Moses. Do you see what's happening here?

42:53No one can really take credit, right? God Himself, yes, overall, working through His people. But who has, who can rejoice in this harvest? Everybody. Everybody. Do you see what we're in? We are in an enterprise together that spans the whole history of humanity. And there will be rejoicing. The one who sows and the one who reaps will both rejoice in the harvest. Do you see? That's what's so beautiful. Beautiful about this. No matter who you are, no matter what part you play, your rejoicing is for you and to share with others.

43:41I need to move on. So, the lesson of spiritual labor has three aspects: seeing the harvest, sharing in the harvest, and serving the Lord of the harvest. That's what we're doing. Look at verse 38: I sent you to reap for that which you have not labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. He says very much the same thing that he has just said. He's joined the two: laborers and reapers, and harvesters, and sowers.

44:14But here's the expression that I think is a couple expressions here that are unique. Number one, entered into their labor. You have entered into their labor. We have entered into the enterprise of saving souls. We are not the ones, obviously. It's God's work. It's the Lord of the harvest. He is the one at work. He is the one who must send us out. He's the one who had to go through Samaria. But we have entered into their labor. Think about that. We've entered into the labor of the apostles as we continue to share and proclaim his word. Now, last week I had a friend who got a job offer from a very, very prominent company. Company in New York City, and at a very significant level.

45:09And you know what happened? He entered into their labor. It's a company with a great, great reputation. He entered into their past labors. It's a company that's been around for a long, long time. So he enters into it basically on the backs and labors of others. He comes into a prominent position that has gone on for a century or whatever. So he entered into their past labors and he entered into their current reputation. So now he gets the reputation of this firm and he gets a part in the future reward of the firm. Do you see how this concept of entering into the labor? This is what happens every time you go to work for a company, right? So be careful who you work for because you're entering into their past labors, you're entering into their current reputation, and you're going to take part in their future reward or liability.

46:08But this is what the privilege is that we have in Christ. There is no competition between ministers. Jesus envisions that some are going to plant and some are going to reap. But I want you to see something here. Look at the beginning of verse 8. I sent you. Now, you're Remember back in verse 34, what was Jesus' will? Or what was Jesus' spiritual food? To do what? The will and the work of the one who dispatched him, right? The one who sent him. And here is Jesus, he sends us, doesn't he? He sent the disciples. And so you know what our food becomes?

46:55To do the will and accomplish the work of the one who dispatched us. He is the Lord of the harvest. So, what is the spiritual food for all the followers of Jesus? To do the will and the work of the Lord of the harvest. And Jesus is the one sending us. What is our reward? Well done, good and faithful servant, partaking in the joy of the harvest. So two lessons. Two lessons. If you will put these lessons into practice, the lesson of spiritual food and the lesson of spiritual labor, you will grow in your worship of God and you will hear these words. Well done, good and faithful servant. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the words. Thank you for the truth that they communicate.

48:03Accomplish your work, do your will, give us a hunger, and then satisfy that hunger with your food. Employ us in your labor. In Jesus' name, amen.