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The Call of Jesus
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Welcome to this lesson 6 -
"The Harvest is Plentiful".
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I want to say it again:
the harvest is plentiful.
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This is a very, very important truth
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that you and me need to understand.
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We all need to understand it:
the harvest is plentiful.
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And when you understand this truth
it will set you free.
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But this is the truth that will not
only set you free,
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but also people around you.
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Because when you understand
this simple truth
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that the harvest is plentiful...
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it will change not only your life,
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but it will also change the way
you share Jesus to people around you.
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It will change the way you live
your life with people around you,
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so other people around you will also
start to experience their life changed.
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So, if you listen and understand
what Jesus is saying,
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when He said that the harvest is
plentiful...
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Hallelujah! It's going to change
everything.
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And therefore you'll also see that
our enemy, Satan,
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has been very, very, very busy
when it comes to this.
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He has been spreading lies
about the harvest,
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lies that say that the harvest
is not plentiful.
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So, I hope you are ready to
listen to this teaching,
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because it is so important.
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So, let's start with reading here
from Luke 10:2, where Jesus says this:
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"The harvest is plentiful,
but the workers are few.
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Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore,
to send out workers into His harvest field."
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And there is so much truth
in those few words Jesus is saying here.
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I will spend the next three videos
on just this verse.
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Because there is so much in this.
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But, now we are going to look
at the first line,
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the first thing Jesus is saying.
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The first thing Jesus is saying here
to His disciples,
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and what He's saying to you and me,
to the church today
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is that the harvest is plentiful.
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Another translation says that
the harvest is great.
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So, the harvest is plentiful.
The harvest is great.
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But, what is the harvest?
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That is the first thing.
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What is the harvest?
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The harvest are those people out there
that need Jesus.
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There is so many people out there
who are just ready to receive Jesus,
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who are ready for healing,
who are ready for deliverance,
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who are ready to hear the gospel,
to repent.
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There are so many people out there
who are ready.
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They are many.
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The harvest is ready.
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The harvest is plentiful.
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The harvest is not the problem
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and the harvest has never been the problem.
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The problem is the workers.
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The workers are few.
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And that is something we are going
to look at later.
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But first I want to say that the harvest
is plentiful.
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The harvest is great.
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But it's not only plentiful,
it's not only great.
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The harvest is also ready for harvest.
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And we see that very clear
in John 4.
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In John 4 you can read that Jesus
walked with His disciples
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and He needed to go to Samaria.
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So, here we read that Jesus came
and met a woman at a well,
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and He started to speak with that woman,
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and that woman started to believe
in Jesus.
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She had faith in Jesus,
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that He was the one God has promised
that He would send.
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And that woman believed Jesus
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and later we read that that woman
went down and told everyone in the city
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and they all came to faith, came out
and wanted to meet Jesus themselves.
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We can read how Jesus' disciples
then came back later,
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while Jesus was still speaking
with that woman,
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and they were very, very surprised.
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Why did Jesus speak with that woman?
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A woman? A Samaritan woman?
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Why did Jesus speak with that sinner?
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So, Jesus' disciples were very surprised
that Jesus was speaking with that woman.
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But then Jesus said something to them,
that is very, very, very important,
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something He's saying to you and me
today.
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We can read that in John 4:35-38.
Jesus said this:
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"Do you not say, 'There are still four
months and then comes the harvest?
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Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes
and look at the fields,
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for they are already white
for harvest!"
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So, Jesus was saying: Don't you say
that there are four months for harvest?
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But then He continues: Open your eyes.
Look out the harvest.
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The harvest is white for harvest.
The harvest is ready.
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Why was Jesus saying this to His disciples?
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Why is He saying that to you and me?
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Because Jesus' disciples,
when they came there,
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they saw that woman at the well,
and in their eyes,
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that woman was not ready for harvest.
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So, they believed in a lie.
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They believed that there are still
four months for harvest.
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But Jesus did not believe in those lies.
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Jesus knew what the truth was
and what the truth is,
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and the truth is that the harvest is ready.
The harvest is plentiful.
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And what Jesus is saying here to His
disciples, and to you and me,
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is so, so powerful, and it's so important,
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and something Satan is trying to
keep away from us.
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He has been trying to say that
the harvest is not ready.
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No, no, the harvest is not plentiful.
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No, no, no, you still need to wait
four months.
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You still need to wait two years.
You still need to wait ten years.
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And then, maybe, the harvest
will be ready.
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This is what Satan has been lying to us,
again, and again, and again,
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and many, many, many people
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believe his lies.
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But if you believe his lies,
that the harvest is not ready,
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you will not see any fruit.
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You need to see it the right way.
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Let me come with an example.
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What do you think will happen if
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it was not Jesus who came to that woman,
but it was His disciples?
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If it was Jesus' disciples who came there
and saw that woman at the well,
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first thing, they would not go to Samaria,
at all.
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Because why go to Samaria?
Those people!
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They already heard a lot of negative
things about those people in Samaria,
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and they did not want to go there
at all.
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Like many people today at church,
have heard so much negative -
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Oh, don't go out and share...
No, no, no. Be careful.
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Those people out there are dangerous.
They don't want to listen to us.
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So, let's say that Jesus' disciples
came there, to Samaria,
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and they saw that woman there.
What will they see?
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Will they see what Jesus saw -
a harvest that was ready and plentiful?
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No, they would just see a woman,
a sinner,
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a woman working there at the well.
No, no, no.
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Let's go around her.
Let's not talk with her. Why?
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Because they have heard a lot of
negative things, a lot of rumors and
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they saw her very different
than how Jesus saw her.
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If they have been there alone,
they would not have seen her
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give her life to Christ.
They would not see her receive.
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Why? Because they would just have gone
around her.
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And that shows that how we look
at the harvest is very, very, very important.
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If we look at the harvest like Jesus'
disciples at that time,
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we would not see the harvest come in.
We would not see people saved.
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But if we look at the harvest
the way Jesus saw it,
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that the harvest is ready
and that the harvest is plentiful -
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Hallelujah!
We will see amazing things.
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And I believe that Jesus needed
to go to Samaria at that moment,
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that time. Why? Because of her
and because He wanted to teach
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you and me, who are living today,
this very, very important thing.
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First thing, don't listen to rumors.
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Don't listen to rumors.
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How many times have we not heard
people say:
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Oh, the harvest is not ready.
Oh, the harvest is not plentiful.
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Oh, people don't want Jesus
in our city.
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Oh, in this country people don't want
Jesus.
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Oh, this work place. No one around
here want Jesus.
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Oh, this neighborhood.
Oh, no one wants Jesus right now.
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They are not ready yet.
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Oh, how many times have we
not heard people say:
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Oh, the next year, not this year,
but the next year.
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Maybe the harvest will be ready
the next year,
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or the next year again.
The harvest is not ready at all now.
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Do you know, all of those words
is a lie, from the pit of hell?
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It's a lie from our enemy, Satan,
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who has blinded the people
with his lies,
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so we, first, don't see the harvest
ready, second, we don't go out
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and see the harvest that is ready.
Why? Because we believed in lies.
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Why does Satan try to lie to us
and keep us from this truth, as I said.
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Because how we view the harvest
determines if we see fruit or not.
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Because if you see the harvest
like many people do today,
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you would not go out,
you would not open your mouth,
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you would just pass by them.
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You would not spend the time
to stop and share Jesus.
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But if you see the harvest
the way Jesus did,
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you would go to them,
you would speak to them,
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and you would be surprised how many people
there are ready and they are open
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to receive Jesus.
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Again, how often have you not heard,
how often have we not heard
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people say: the harvest is not ready yet.
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It's not the time yet.
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I want to read something from my book
"The Call of Jesus":
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"But as I said before, our enemy, Satan,
has been busy blinding the church with his lies.
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There are only a few who actually see this,
who understand it,
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and who go out to bring the harvest in.
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I have traveled in many different countries.
Almost everywhere I go,
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I experience the same things.
I always meet Christians
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who have a wrong view of the harvest.
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I have heard so many people tell me
they think it is amazing what God is doing
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in other places in the world.
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But, they always tell me that no one
is open for the Gospel in their city
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or where they are. They often tell me
that people in their own country
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are too religious, or materialistic,
or something else,
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and they do not want God.
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They say things like, 'it's so difficult
in our own city'.
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Yes, Christians I have met have a totally
different views of the harvest
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than what Jesus is saying about it."
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I want to say that I've seen it
all over the place.
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I've been in so many, many countries,
as I read here,
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and every place is always the same.
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Oh, it's so amazing what God is doing
there, and there, and there,
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but in our city... Wow! Oh, we are so
religious, and our city is so materialistic,
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or, in our city they are so atheistic,
or, in our city are so poor,
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or are so rich... And I've always heard
the same again, and again, and again.
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People always give the harvest the fault
why things don't happen where they are.
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But Jesus said the harvest is not
the problem.
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The problems is the workers.
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Let me keep reading here.
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"Please listen to the words of Jesus and open
your eyes to see that the harvest is ready.
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Do not say it takes four months and then
the harvest will be ready
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because today is the day of salvation
(2 Corinthians 6:2).
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The harvest is not and will never be
the problem.
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The problem is the workers.
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The problem is us,
but we can do something about it."
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Yes, we can.
We can do something about it.
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And I can share so many amazing stories
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of people who have never led
one person to Christ,
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who have never healed the sick,
who have never cast out a demon,
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who have never really bore fruit.
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But then, suddenly, their eyes are open
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and everything is changing.
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Now they are seeing so many people
healed, so many people set free,
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so many people around them
born again.
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What happened with them?
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It was not the harvest that
suddenly changed.
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No, they changed.
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If it was the harvest that changed,
suddenly,
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then everyone around them,
in their church, Christians in that city,
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will also suddenly start to see
the same fruit.
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But, they don't.
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Why? Because they did not change.
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And the harvest did not change.
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I have seen people sit in church
for 20 years.
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In 20 years they have never led
one person to Christ.
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And then, suddenly...
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something happened.
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Their eyes are opened.
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The harvest is ready.
The start to see. They start to experience.
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And they start to lead people to Christ
everywhere.
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Not the rest in their church.
But them.
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Again, why?
Because it was not the harvest that changed.
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It was them that changed.
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When you understand this,
what Jesus is saying here,
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that the harvest is ready,
the harvest is plentiful,
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it will change you, and it will change
not only you, but people around you.
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Because it will change the way you
talk with people,
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the way you go to people,
the way you look at people.
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It will change the way you pray.
It will change everything
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when you start to understand
what Jesus is saying.
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Again, if you believe that the harvest
is not ready -
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nothing will happen.
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Or, very little will happen.
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But when you see what Jesus is trying
to say to you...
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Hallelujah! When you see this
and start to experience it,
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you will every day live the life
like in the Book of Acts.
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Where you are led to the person of peace,
and people are getting healed
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and set free, and born again,
all over. Why?
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Because this is the truth and
I've seen that again, and again, and again.
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I can come with one more example.
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Some years ago I was in Holland.
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And there was a guy from Finland
who flew to Holland to be with me,
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to fly home few hours later,
or the day after.
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He grew up in Finland, he has been
in church his whole life.
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He has never led anyone to Christ,
he has never healed the sick,
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he has never cast out a demon.
What happened?
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He came to Holland, to be with me for a few
hours, and then he flew home to Finland.
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The next week in Finland
he has healed the first sick,
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he has cast out the first demon,
and he has baptized the first one
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in water and Holy Spirit.
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30 or 40 years in church,
and not seeing one person healed,
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one person come to Christ.
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And then he come and meet me
a few hours, and then he go home,
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and then the next days,
the next week - he has seen it all.
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What happened?
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Was it the harvest that suddenly changed
while he was gone?
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No, the harvest did not change
in those 24 hours he was gone.
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He changed.
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How did he change?
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We walked in Holland, we talked.
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I asked him if he has ever prayed
for somebody who got healed.
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He said: No.
I said: Hey, the harvest is ready.
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You can do it. Come with me.
We went into McDonald's,
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I went to a table, said:
Anyone who's sick?
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There was a girl who was sick.
I said to him: Now pray for her.
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And he laid hands, and he prayed,
and that girl got healed.
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When she got healed, by his hand...
Something happened in him.
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He suddenly understood that
he believed in a lie his whole life.
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He suddenly understood that
the harvest is ready.
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He understood it's easy.
He understood he can do it.
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That visit to McDonald's,
when he prayed for somebody,
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he understood that the harvest
was ready.
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That was what he needed.
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When he went home to Finland,
the next week people got healed,
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set free and born again.
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This is what we need.
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And I could share so many testimonies
like this.
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The next video I'm going to do is called
"Believe That the Harvest is Ready".
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There I want to share more testimonies
like this. Why?
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Because it's not enough we hear it.
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We need to believe it.
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What I encourage you to do is that...
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take some time,
until we see the next time.
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Take some time and listen
to Jesus' words.
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Listen to what Jesus is saying, that
the harvest is plentiful,
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the harvest is ripe, the harvest is plentiful,
the harvest is ripe.
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And then pray, pray, pray, pray, pray,
that Jesus will open your eyes.
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Pray that He will open your eyes
so you can see what Jesus is saying.
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Pray that He will help you,
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because when this becomes
a revelation for you,
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when you start to believe
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what Jesus is saying that the harvest is ripe,
the harvest is plentiful,
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it will change your actions toward people,
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and it will, again, change the fruit
you are seeing.
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But if you keep believing Satan's lies
and say:
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the harvest is not plentiful,
there are still four months to harvest,
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you are not going to see anything.
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You are believing in a lie.
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So, take the time,
take Jesus' words, listen to it.
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Pray, pray that God will open your eyes.
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And then, let it stir up something
in you.
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When you then go for a walk
and when you look at people around you,
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then start to look at them
through the eyes of Jesus.
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When you see people,
instead of thinking: Ah, that person,
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I don't think that person is ready,
and that person looked like
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he doesn't want God,
and she looked like she doesn't want God,
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instead of that, start to look at people
through the eyes of Jesus,
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like Jesus saw the woman in Samaria.
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Look at them and say: Whoa. There is
somebody here who can be very, very open.
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There is somebody here who maybe
wants God.
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I know Jesus is later saying in Luke 10
that there are people
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who don't want it, where we just
take the dust off our hands and feet,
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and it's something
I'm going to talk more about later.
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But that is not what we are focusing now.
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We are not focused on those few people
who don't want it.
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We are focused on the harvest
that is ready.
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We are focused on those people
who want it, like the woman in Samaria.
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So, until I see you next time,
take some time, meditate, pray,
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speak out Jesus' words.
The harvest is plentiful.
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The harvest is plentiful.
The harvest is ripe. The harvest is ripe.
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And then when you walk out,
when you drive out
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and you look at people,
then look at them and say:
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Whoa. The harvest is ripe.
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That person there could be
like the woman in Samaria.
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That person there could be
the person who is ready to receive.
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If you do that, I expect and I believe
that is going to change your life
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and you will see amazing, amazing fruit.
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So, start to pray it out,
start to speak it out,
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start to believe what Jesus is saying,
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and then, look forward to see you
next time.
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God bless you all out there!
Bye-bye!
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The Call of Jesus