Mobilizing The Church For A Harvest of Souls

Publish date: 04/02/2008

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30 NKJV

The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men--he gathers and receives them for eternity].  Proverbs 11:30 AMP

Over twenty years ago, when God called us to the United States of America, He gave us a commission to get the church revived, stirred up, and set on fire – to fall in love with Jesus all over again. Why? Not only for their own benefit, for their own eternity, and for their own relationship with the Lord, but also for the harvest! No one else in the world is going to be motivated to win the lost! No one else, but the Church, has the responsibility to share the Gospel of Good News with the world and only hot, on-fire believers have the passion to do so. Our job is, and always has been, to provoke Christians to personally press in to God for themselves and to motivate them to joyfully share their faith with others.  

We noticed, in 1999 in New York and in 2000 in Shreveport, that when we first invited the church onto the streets with us, to win souls, that it was only those who had been touched by revival and those who were on fire for God, who answered the call. Luke-warm and backslidden Christians will not win any souls. They have no appreciation for what Jesus has done for them personally. Their hearts are hard, and they don't care about building the Kingdom of God.

But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him]. 19 It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor). 20 So we are Christ's ambassadors, God making His appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ's personal representatives] beg you for His sake to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you] and be reconciled to God.  2 Corinthians 5:18-20 AMP
 
All those, who have been washed in the blood of Jesus, have been reconciled to God themselves and have also received an instant call from God to the ministry of reconciliation. We are Christ's ambassadors – we represent Jesus Christ wherever we are - with the help of the Holy Spirit. Remember, the Day of Pentecost was a place of empowerment – not just another convention. It's a place where hungry people are touched and filled in order to take the power of God to the streets and a needy world. The meetings we are having on the Great Awakening Tour are not the same as our Campmeetings, but they are for the purpose of empowering the church and then getting them fired up for the harvest.

Jesus said to them, My food (nourishment) is to do the will (pleasure) of Him Who sent Me and to accomplish and completely finish His work. 35 Do you not say, It is still four months until harvest time comes? Look! I tell you, raise your eyes and observe the fields and see how they are already white for harvesting. 36 Already the reaper is getting his wages [he who does the cutting now has his reward], for he is gathering fruit (crop) unto life eternal, so that he who does the planting and he who does the reaping may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying holds true, one sows and another reaps.  John 4:34-37 AMP

Jesus motivation was to do God's will and to accomplish and totally finish His work. We should follow His example. Jesus says that there is no time to waste – the harvest is ready right now. The harvest has always been ready – it's the laborers who need to get a fire in their tail like Sampson's foxes!
 
One of the testimonies from Gainesville that really stood out to us was of a couple who knocked on apartment door and led a lady to the Lord. Then she shared with them how she had pleaded with God to answer her and to send someone to talk to her and help her that day or she was going to kill herself. Imagine if they had been only a day late or even a few hours late – a life and a soul would have been lost! In the nursing homes, we have had people die the same day they received the Lord. What's really sad is when they die minutes before the harvesters arrive!

As we said before, the Kingdom of God needs laborers to reap the harvest, people to pray, and financiers to fund it. We have a window of time to reach the harvest – it really is urgent – an opportunity missed cannot be restored! If people do not make themselves available to the Lord He will find another, but their opportunity will be missed and their reward will be lost!