The Great Harvest of our time

Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest is plenteous but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. Matthew 9:37-38

We are living in the midst of a great harvest. The field is ripe for the gathering; a mighty harvest indeed. But the baskets that should be full are empty as the store houses lie in waste.

We are the Josephs of our generation. We have been warned of a coming drought called eternal damnation and have been called to gather in the harvest. While Joseph emptied the fields and filled up the storehouses of Egypt with grain our harvest remains plenteous because our laborers are few.

Unlike Joseph’s harvest of grain ours’ is a harvest of souls; souls that have not come into the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our harvest therefore bears with it eternal significance because it does not have to do with the perishing of the physical man due to hunger and drought but it has to do with the eternal damnation of those who do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord.

Brothers and Sisters God has called us to be fruitful but the truth of the matter is that we have been given everything necessary for fruitfulness. We are like potential laborers who have been given baskets, gloves, heavy machinery for gathering plants, boots, sunhats, proper training and every other provision necessary to gather in the harvest, but often find ourselves everywhere else but the field of harvest. Know that it is the devils determination to keep you everywhere but the field of harvest because when he can accomplish that there are two consequences:

1. Somebody does not get saved
2. You stand before God in the judgment empty handed, barren and fruitless

This shall not be our portion in the mighty name of Jesus.

This ought not to be our portion because every provision has been made for us to succeed to the extent that we have no excuse for wasting the Lords harvest. In John 3:16 the bible says “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life”. God has given us his son Jesus Christ, he has given us his Holy Spirit, who is an “indwelling” Holy Spirit: This means that if you have been baptized by the Holy Spirit he takes control of your life as you surrender to him and you begin to do things not out of your own strength or ability but out of the ability of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

And what a powerful Holy Spirit he is. No one ever did anything of note in their own strength.
Before Samson killed a Lion or singlehandedly began to destroy thousands of Israel’s enemies the bible says “And the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him” Judges 14:6

Before David slew Goliath or united the people of Israel the bible says “And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward” 1 Samuel 16:13

Brothers and sisters, before our Lord Jesus Christ began his ministry he said “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor” Luke 4:18

Never look at your own abilities. No one ever did anything of note in their own strength.





The misconception

Many Christians have a misconception that they must grow up to a certain “level” before they begin to spread the gospel, before they begin to make a stand for Jesus Christ.

Oh what a lie from the pit of hell! We can certainly grow in our walk of faith but we cannot grow in righteousness. There aren’t different levels of righteousness: You are either righteous or you are not. This is because when Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins he exchanged his righteousness for our sins. See II Cor 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus Christ died so that we can be made into his righteousness which is the righteousness of God. And so we can’t “grow” in righteousness. That would mean we are “improving upon” the righteousness of God which Christ gave to us when we accepted him as Lord.

Therefore we see that all the promises of God outlined beautifully throughout the scriptures are pertaining unto the righteous. Not those who have “grown up to a certain level”.

In Isaiah Chapter 54 which is a portion of scripture that is very dear to my heart, the Lord makes promises upon promises. But how does the Chapter end? The Lord says in verse 17: This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

If you’ve accepted Christ and are whole heartedly living for him:

· You have been given the righteousness of God for a heritage
· All the provisions and promises are pertaining to you
· What then are you waiting for? The harvest is waiting for you.

And so we see that it is not a matter of your own strength or level of maturity because it truly is the work of Christ through the Holy Spirit. How else could Paul in Phil 4:13 say “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me”.

I feel the Lord placing it upon my heart to tell you a few things:

The first is that lately it seems as if the very one’s whom I have been speaking to about Christ are coming back with the most difficult questions I have ever been posed. Questions such as: What about my religion, are we all going to hell? Am I supposed to turn my back on my own family? I am not a bad person; I live a good honest life; if he is really a good and merciful God why would he send me to hell?

I tell you these things so that you can expect them. Do not be discouraged, know that the gospel was not designed to be deduced by cognitive reasoning. Trust in God’s willingness and power to reveal himself. Always remember that the bible says “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God”. 1 Cor 1:18.

The second is that you should not measure your success by earthly standards but by heavenly standards. As long as you are doing what the father expects of you, you are doing fine. Do not underestimate the power of a seed that is sown. Do not measure success by how many people fall to their knees and begin to recite the sinners prayer.

I have only led 2 people in the sinners’ prayer. One was a classmate in secondary school in Nigeria and the other was a co worker. The measure of my success is that the heavens would open up as it did when Jesus was baptized, and that I would see the Spirit of God descending like a dove and a voice from heaven saying “This is my beloved servant, in whom I am well pleased”.

Brothers and Sisters, it comes down to this: We have to be fruitful in this season of harvest. When Joseph had gathered the harvest in the years of plenty he had two sons. The second one he called Ephraim, which means fruitful. For the bible says he proclaimed “The Lord has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction”. Genesis 41:52

Let this be what the future holds in store for us in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

I love you. Remain blessed.