Catch The Vision!
“… the harvest is come”
By Senior Pastor Prince
Guneratnam
The Bible gives an account
of the healing of a blind man in Mark 8. When Jesus prayed for him to receive
his sight, he saw men as trees. So Jesus prayed the second time and his sight
was completely restored. Jesus took the time to ensure that the restoration of
the man’s vision was complete because he knew the importance of sight. Our
vision of eye sight is very important.
The metaphor used in the
Bible to depict the peoples of the world is that of a harvest. This is very
appropriate. Like the grain to the farmer, so are we to God who is our Maker.
The outside or the shell will be put away but the grain will be saved for
better use. Our body will one day decay but our soul is for eternity. As the
farmer is after the grain, so is God after our soul. All souls belong to Him
and He wants to persevere them all however, He declares that the soul that sins
will surely die.
We need to look at our
world. We need to look with eyes that give the true and full picture. This will
challenge us to do the work of the Lord of the Harvest has called us to.
Let me share this beautiful
illustration found in Psalm 126:5, 6 with you. It shows us what we need to
know. It teaches us how to be successful labourers in the Lord’s harvest field.
Three aspects relating to the work of sowing and reaping found therein.
The Soul Winner’s Programme
The first is the Programme –
“He who goes out weeping, carrying seeds to sow, will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him” (Psalm 126:6).
The work is to be done by
people – people who are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb and who are living
lives that are living lives that are a testimony of God’s saving grace. The
Scripture says, “He who goes out…” This is our privilege. The Lord has not
called the angels because angels cannot tell the gospel of God’s saving grace
as well as we can. God’s programme to teach the sinful man is to use redeemed
men like you and me. You are needed! Will you say “Yes”?
This programme calls for
obedience and sacrifice. When you offer yourself be willing to fulfill your
calling. You are to “go”! Go out to the Harvest Field and reap the harvest.
When you go to fish, you go where the fishes are. When you want to find men who
are lost in sin, you go out from your church. Leave the comforts of your church
and find them in the streets and places where you work and in your community.
They will not come to church. You must go to them. Sometimes going means
sacrificing your time, using your car to bring them, and could even involve the
sharing of your finances and personal comforts with them.
Jesus told the woman of
The Soul Winner’s Passion
The second aspect is Passion
– “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy” (Psalm 126:5) and “Those
who go out weeping” (v.6). This speaks of the passion for sinners to be
redeemed by Blood of the Lamb. We are gripped with compassion for many things
in life, such as when we see sickness, suffering and physical death. But do we
fail to have compassion on the person who is a sinner? He can be forgiven yet
he is not reached with the gospel. A sinner will die and he will not have a
home in heaven, but in hell. Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus
(Luke
Let me share a testimony
with you: Sometime ago, a prison officer came asking to see me. As I was
preaching in the morning service, he did not get to see me. He was told that I
would be informed of his request.
As it happened, I was
scheduled to leave for Kuantan after the service that day to preach at a church
dedication service. So I asked my Associate Pastor Peter, to go to the prison
and find out what the officer wanted. However, the Holy Spirit told me that I
should go. I obeyed. So both Pastor Peter and I went to the prison.
At the prison, we found out
that our visit was the last wish of a prisoner on death row. This man had been
in Taiping prison and had read a Christian tract which had
While this was being told to
me, many thoughts raced through my mind. Uppermost was: How was I to approach
this man, who was to be hanged next day? What words of comfort, what words of
assurance could I choose?
But when I met him in his cell,
with the bars between us, his first concerned was not for himself. He said that
he knew Jesus and was not afraid to die, but would me to pray with him that his
mother would also know Jesus.
Here was a man sentence to
die the next day and still his greatest concern was his mother. He wanted her
to experience God’s saving grace. How about us?
The Soul Winner’s Promise
The programme is you, and
you must have a passion. Finally there is a Promise – “he… will return with
songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.” (Psalm 126:6). There is guaranteed
results. Some may see this take place immediately and others later, but all
will return with their sheaves.
A good farmer expects a
harvest, especially when he has done all that is needed for a harvest.
Likewise, a soul winner can have the same expectation. If we sow, we will reap.
This is the immutable law of the harvest. The gospel must be preached to all
the nations (Mark
Jesus told us of signs that
would indicate His Second Coming (Matt. 24) and many of these are of evidence
today in the world. The Holy Spirit has witnessed a need to believe God for the
harvest through many of God’s servants. The Assemblies of God churches world-wide
are believing God that the 90’s be a “Decade of Harvest”. I am challenged and
exited to see
January – March 1990