It's Harvest Time!

John 4:35, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.”

2 Cor. 6:2, “...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” The Message Bible states it this way, “Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped.”

Today as I enter into a time of prayer and meditation, my heart is heavy for the lost souls of this world. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the answer to the needs in every persons life. All men need to hear and respond to the message of redemption and freedom in Christ. Jesus commissioned the Church with the responsibility and privilege of sharing the Gospel message with the world. Matt. 28:18, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

The message of Jesus Christ is the light of pure redemption shining forth in a world filled with darkness. The Body of Christ is entrusted to carry this message of deliverance to all the world. All repented sin is forgiven in the Gospel! All human weakness is given strength in the Gospel! All chains of bondage are broken in the Gospel! All the poor receive the Good News in the Gospel! All the broken hearts are healed in the Gospel! All the captives are delivered in the Gospel! All the blind receive their sight in the Gospel! All the bruised are given liberty in the Gospel! All the burdened and battered are set free in the Gospel! The Gospel is the Good News of the delivering power of Jesus Christ through His shed blood. Jesus became the sacrifice for the sins of all man kind. Through His sacrifice we are delivered from sin and sin’s punishment.

In Matt. 28:18, Jesus states that He has all power. It is the exaltation of our Lord Jesus, having overcome death, hell and the grave that is emphasized here. When the Father awoke Him from death, the humiliation of flesh came to an end. At the resurrection He entered into heavenly glory. The limited conditions of the human life were removed. Therefore, He could say, “all power is given unto me...” He possessed in His glorified nature absolute power to procure all things necessary to establish His Kingdom. In union with the Father, He was free from all limitations.

Why is that important? In the very next verse, Jesus outlines the task of those that remain to carry the Gospel to all nations. “Go ye therefore...” doing what He had done, saving the lost, healing the sick, teaching to observe all the things that Jesus had taught. And because He had all power, He anointed with power to accomplish the commission given. He validated this fact by, “I am with you always.” The Christ with all power promised to always be with His disciples in every generation. (continued)