Notes of Faith May 7, 2026
Pastor’s Pen Pulpit
January 12, 2003
“MEETING THE WORLD’S SPIRITUAL NEEDS”
Matthew 9:35-38
And Jesus was going about all the cities and the villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. And seeing the multitudes - - -
What an evangelist was our Lord! He, more than anyone, saw the spiritual needs of mankind and poured out His heart and soul to reach them for eternity. Yet His time on earth was brief so He conveys the spiritual need of the multitudes to His disciples and explains how they can meet those needs. By way of application we see our participation in meeting the spiritual needs of today’s world.
1. We must acquaint ourselves with the spiritual needs of people. “And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.”
When Jesus saw the needs of people, He was moved. Jesus had a true missionary heart. He loved people and had compassion on them, knowing what they were like. (See also Luke 19:10.)
It is easy to theorize about the needs of the world. It is when we are exposed to the stark reality of spiritual darkness that God is able to work compassion into our hearts. How is this accomplished? Reading first-hand reports, on the spot exposure to missionaries in action.
“They were like sheep having no shepherd.” Men have not changed in this respect. Man, with all of his integrity and worldly skill, still has no direction regarding spiritual and eternal matters.
2. We must assess the missionary situation accurately. “Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.’ ”
There is a plentiful harvest. (See also Matthew 7:13.) Let’s look about us. Is not our society teeming with people? And yet there are few workers. There is never a balance in the mission field. The lion’s share of the work has always been done by the few. By-and-large missionary work is a selfless work, often thankless and unappreciated by many in the church.
3. We must ask God to activate workers for His harvest. “Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”
Our Lord instructs His disciples to begin meeting the needs by praying! The Holy Spirit is the One who activates workers for the mission field. (See Acts 13:1-3 and Acts 16.) Prayer is where we should begin. Let’s ask ourselves how much do we pray for the spiritual needs of the multitudes? Not as much as we should, I’m sure.
Let’s covenant with the Lord and ourselves, to spend more time in prayer for people without Jesus Christ. Then let’s make ourselves available to Him, as workers in the fields “white unto harvest.” God bless.
Love to all,
Pastor Charles Covington
Let the Holy Spirit guide you into prayer, that your heart might be aligned with God’s own, to speak the truth of the gospel to all around you, that those who truly hear would come to Jesus in faith believing in Him for salvation, redemption, and wholeheartedly serving Him by leading others to His throne of grace!
Pastor Dale