- Engagement in the wisdom of ingathering is what secures the reward of our labour.
- Don’t get satisfied that they are saved, they are not safe until they are in His house.
Our Father, this morning we have come with voices of gratitude to give glory to You for all You have done. Thank You for these awesome testimonies, they are Your doings and they are marvellous in our eyes. Lord, for the answer to our prayers, we say Thank You. Now our eyes are upon You this morning, we ask that You will speak to us. By Your Word, let each one of us be transformed. We thank You for doing it, in Jesus precious name we have prayed.
Our line of exhortation all through this week has been:
WHY MUST WE BE COMMITTED TO THE INGATHERING OF SOULS INTO CHURCH?
We have come to recognise that where the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable. We have also come to realise that every commandment of God is ultimately for our benefit. In other words, God never gives you a commandment to His advantage but rather to our own advantage. It means therefore that every commitment to divine commandment is ordained by God to provoke a change of story for the obedient. That is why it becomes important that you and I recognise, what it will take to ensure that the commandment of God is fully obeyed but what stimulates our obedience is recognizing Why it is that God has given particular instructions?
This morning we are looking at this particular reason:
To Avoid Wasted Labour.
It is the order of God that every labour is supposed to provoke profit.
Proverbs 14:23
The Bible also made clear it that labour can be wasted.
1 Thessalonians 3:5 – I sent to know that you are still standing, that you are planted, that you are rooted. He said, “lest our labour should have been in vain.” It means that what gives value to our labour is the establishment of those that are drawn to Christ through us.
Let’s look at the following very important discovery from Scriptures.
- First, until our fruits abide, our rewards cannot be fully delivered.
John 15:16, John 4:35-36
It is not sufficient to see to the salvation of souls, they must be gathered.
1 Corinthians 3:8, 14
It is our commitment to seeing that our fruits remain, that our fruits abide, that determines whether you and I are positioned for a reward. Our reward therefore is at the mercy of the ‘plantedness’ of those that God brings our way for salvation. So don’t get satisfied that they are saved, they are not safe until they are in His house. Church Gist. It is our duty, our responsibility and ultimately our privilege to see to the planting, the rooting, the establishment of every soul that God brings our way. - Secondly, we must understand that we must engage the wisdom of ingathering to take over the harvest field. So it is not wisdom to labour and leave the fruits on the harvest field, it is wisdom to gather them.
Ecclesiastes 10:15
There is a kind of labour that will end up being wearisome. That is the labour that does not conclude with ingathering.
Can you imagine a farmer that labours, he plants, nurtures, he sees to the growth of his fruits. Then at harvest time, he goes to the harvest field and then begins to pluck them. Maybe they are mangoes, he plucks them and puts them right there on the Harvest Field and goes back into the house, stretches himself on the bed and says, “I have worked but the fruit is on the field.”
It is labour, Yes, but it is a foolish dimension of labour.
It is only those that gather in that demonstrates that wisdom and when we engage in that ingathering, that is where the reward is found. What is left on the harvest field cannot be weighed and paid for. No matter the value of what a farmer gathers, if it is not brought into the Store House, that labour is wasted and as a result of that, that labour cannot be rewarded. So it is our duty to engage the wisdom of ingathering.
Ecclesiastes 9:14-18
We are told that wisdom is better strength, wisdom is better than weapons of war. There is the wisdom for ingathering. Thank God that God has helped many of us and we have seen the wisdom for soul winning but there is another dimension of wisdom that we engage to see that all of the souls won are gathered into the house of God. The wisdom of ingathering. It is when that wisdom is engaged that the reward for our labour is secured.
Proverbs 21:22
Wisdom gives you the ability to take over that harvest territory for God by seeing to it that all of those that God brings our way are drawn into the house of God and when that takes place, there is always a Turnaround blessing awaiting you.
Look at the testimony of the Sister that we heard, not only was she soul winning, not only was she praying but she was also seeing to the drafting in of all of those people to Church and somebody came to discourage her. “Look at how much, is it not too much?” and a voice told her, “how much is a soul worth? and she said,” No. I continued.”
Before she knew, what she had waited for 10 years, where they put into her a coil according to her testimony and she was bleeding profusely; what medical science had been using her as an experiment for, God settled it. Within 3 months, her testimony was released.
That is what occurs when you and I engage in this wisdom.
- Finally, we must understand that tireless commitment to ingathering of souls will make a star of any believer.
Proverbs 11:30, Daniel 12:3
We understand from Scriptures that our tireless commitment to ingathering, to seeing that these souls are properly turned unto God by being planted in the house of God will always bring the star in each one of us out. Church Gist. It causes the star in just any believer to shine forth. I’ll like to understand there is a star in you but the process for the rising of the star is your engagement in this most profitable labour.
I pray that for each one of us, the grace to engage in this labour to the point of profit, by engaging to the point of establishment, I see that grace coming upon each one of us, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prayers: Lord, I receive grace to labour to the point of profit, by labouring to the point of establishment. I receive that grace.
I take that grace this morning, let that grace be mine. In the name of Jesus Christ.
As you have asked for that grace, it shall be made manifest in your life, in Jesus precious name.
#PastorDavidOyedepoJnr
#CHoP7August2021
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CHoP is an acronym for Covenant Hour of Prayer
