BALTEAGH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 12 OCTOBER 2025 - REV MARK NEELY
JOHN 4 VERSES 34 TO 38
I could honestly not give you a lecture on farming - about soil, silage, sprayers, slurry or seeds. Many of you know these things inside out and back to front. The principle of sowing and reaping. If you sow nothing you will reap nothing, if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly, if you sow generously you will reap generously. I am actually one of those who prays that grass does not grow any more. When the bible speaks of harvest it is not mainly talking of wheat, barley or silage, it points us to souls, a spiritual harvest who need to be gathered into the kingdom of God. The big question is - have you been gathered into God's kingdom or will you be one of those bound up and thrown into hell's fire? Are you inside the fold or outside? Are you one of those who knows and loves God? Are you lost in sin or saved by the grace of God? When we hear of tragedies, a storm sweeps through an area, an earthquake shakes an area, a gunman who runs through our streets taking lives - it takes place all around us every day. Statistics tells us of thousands who step into eternity every year without the Lord. 40 people die every day in our province That is another bus loads of souls who will have gone into eternity today. Hell fills up with our neighbours, friends and family members we know. That is why we need a passage like this in John 4. In verse 34 Jesus has already been speaking to the woman at a well. He then turns to his disciples and says "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." Jesus is saying "stop saying some day." The time is now. The place is here. The outcome can be glorious. Let's look at those 3 things - the time, the place, the outcome.
The Time - now. The disciples had returned from buying food from a nearby village. They were surprised to see Jesus talking to a woman of Samaria. She left her water jar and rushes to the men of the village "come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" As the disciples urged Jesus to eat something he tells them to lift up their eyes to the bigger picture. "Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." Notice 2 things - there is a present urgency. Jesus is saying "you think the harvest is months away but it is right now." There is an urgency to the words. He is not talking of the barley or wheat harvest but of people. Very soon they will see people coming out of the town, people ready and ripe to be gathered into the kingdom of God. If it was true then its equally true today. There is a quiet revival going on today. Churches are beginning to find the younger generation, the 20/30 age group coming in through the door and have never been in through the door before. They are asking people to pray for their family members who do not know the Lord. A quiet revival. We are seeing it in Southern Ireland and long for it here in Northern Ireland. We want to see the Lord come and move here in a mighty power way. The harvest is not some day but the harvest is today. Jesus does not say it is time to repent and trust in him when things are more convenient, when you have lived life a bit more, when you have gone out and sown your wild oats then think of Christianity. No Jesus says the time is now. Perhaps some of you have been waiting. You have heard the gospel preached many times. You have felt its tug at your heart but told yourself 'not yet, another day, some time when it suits me better' but Jesus says 'lift up your eyes, the harvest is already here, the opportunity is now." Look around you today, the fields are white in your home. There is also a present urgency. Farmers can say the barley harvest is nearly ready but we will leave it to Christmas when the winds have scattered it and the rains have soaked it. It is your soul. God has given you this moment, this word. Don't presume you will get another time. The time is now. Hebrews 3 verse 15 "today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts."
The place. I want you to notice what is happening here in this passage. It is not Jerusalem where Jesus meets with this lady. Nor is it in the temple. Not some religious festival. It is Samaria, of all places. Jews utterly detested the Samaritans. They saw them as half breeds, compromised, unclean, beyond the pale. The strict Jew wouldn't walk through Samaria if he could help it. Yet prior to this we read "he said I must go through Samaria." He had a divine appointment with this woman at the well. He talked to her about her need for divine living water. It shows us that the gospel is for the outcast. The very first people who heard Jesus declared him as the Messiah. The despised Samaritan woman with a string of failed relationships. The immoral, outcast, despised need you and they need me. Maybe some think this is alright for respectable people sitting around me who have it all together but I have messed up too much. i have too much baggage for Jesus to do anything for me. Jesus does not wait until you clean up. He meets you where you are. He met the woman at the well in Samaria. The gospel to the outcast. The gospel for this place. Jesus uses the language of harvest in a farming place. He speaks right to heart of people living there. He spoke to fishermen and talked to them about fish. When he spoke to shepherds he spoke of the good shepherd who would lay down his life for his sheep. To farmers he talked about the harvest. Many of you are from a farming background. Jesus is speaking to people who will understand his analogy. Look at the fields, the harvest is ready. He is speaking our language. Just as the farmer cannot delay that the field is ripe for harvest. When God is calling us the place is here. He is saying to us 'the time is now, this church service, this mission, this village.' Will you come to him - the place.
The outcome. Here's the encouragement - when the gospel is sown there is a harvest. It is like what happened to the woman in verses 28 and 29. She left her water pot. She forget the reason she went to the well that day. She found something, someone who influenced her greater than the need in her life. Some will come to discover that Jesus is more than anything else. In your life finding Jesus is infinitely greater than anything else in your life. The outcome in this story is changed lives. One woman's life is transformed and through her many others came to faith. That is what happens when Jesus saves a soul. The person does not just come to faith alone, it ripples out to friends and neighbours. The ripple effect. One life changed touches the lives of others. A man comes to Christ, his whole life is different. A woman receives the Lord and suddenly her children notice the difference. A teenager comes to faith and her friends notice the difference. If you come to Christ the outcome will not just be for you, the change will affect those around you. There is a picture of heaven itself when the final great harvest home happens. I am looking forward to it more and more every day. One day when I get to my heavenly home, when people are gathered from every tribe and nation, saved by God's grace, rejoicing in his presence. Will you be there? Do you know that you will be there? That you will be part of that harvest gathered in to heaven or will you be left outside? Lost for ever. A harvest time is decision time. You cannot postpone these things indefinitely. The farmer must act when the harvest is ready. the time is here. The place is here. The outcome is eternal. The woman was changed. The people in her hometown were changed. The people saw the difference in the woman and came to see for themselves. They confessed that this man was the Saviour of the world. The Saviour you need. He went to the cross, bought your sin and rose again. He offers you eternal life today. Don't say "tomorrow or some day when I have things sorted out." "Lift up your eyes the fields are ripe for harvest." The moment is now. Come and trust in Christ today. Join in the great harvest home of heaven. Now you are ready and are prepared - will you come to Christ tonight? Will you confess your sins? We must come to Jesus with hands that are empty. If you bring anything of yourself you are not accepting that salvation rests entirely on him. Come with nothing of yourself. Be like that tax collector in the temple. He beat his breast and said 'Lord have mercy on me a sinner.' He realised Jesus was everything to him. A sinner recognised he had nothing to bring but his sin. Will you come to Christ tonight? Believers do you recognise the fields are ripe for harvest? There is an opportunity for you to reach out to your friends your relatives, your work colleagues, the people you meet in the shop. The fields are white unto harvest. Will you get into that field now? Will we serve the Lord? If you are not saved will you be reaped into God's family tonight? By trusting in Christ as your Saviour and Lord.
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