The Role of the Church and the End-Time Harvest
By Senior Pastor Prince Guneratnam
“Now I saw the Lamb
opened one of the seals; and I heard one of these four living creatures saying
with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.”
And I looked, and
behold, a white horse. He sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him,
and he went out conquering and to conquer.
When He opened the
second seal, I heard a second living creature saying, “Come and see.”
Another horse, fiery
red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it and take peace from
the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him
a great sword.
When He opened the
third seal, I heard a third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked,
and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his
hand.
And I heard a voice in
the midst of the fourth living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for
denarius, and three quarts of barley for denarius; and do not harm the oil and
the wine.”
When He opened the
fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and
see.”
So I looked, and
behold, a pale horse. And the name of it who sat on it was Death, and Hades
followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to
kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.” Revelation
6:1-8 (NKJV)
From John’s vision recorded in Rev 6:1-8, we find four
different horses depicting the events that will lead to the end of the age. The
four horses are each described as white, red, black and pale respectively. The
four colours are significant and give a Biblical perspective of the times we
live. Do you know where we are in God’s calendar? And what we are to do? I
believe we are living in a time of great harvest where we have tremendous
opportunities to reach out and preach the gospel. God is moving and doing great
and mighty things all over the world.
As we consider this passage, let us look at this rider of
these horses. The rider of the white horse went out conquering and to conquer
(verse 2) while the rider if the red horse had a great sword which signified
war and bloodshed (verse 4). The rider of the black horse had a pair of scales
in his hand which symbolizes hunger and shortage of food on the earth (verse
5). The fourth or last rider rode on a pale horse and his name was Death (verse
8). In this message, we will examine the significance of the rider of the white
horse.
The rider of the white horse depicts the times which we are
living. The other three horses and their riders symbolised the time of trouble,
hardship, famine and death which came upon this wicked world. The white horse
speaks of purity and righteousness. The rider had a bow which was a weapon of
warfare. He also had a crown which spoke of his royalty. This describes Christ
and His Church.
The Church is strong and victorious, “and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it” (Matthew
The challenge is for the Church to reach out to the lost
now. Our governments in the world do not have the answer. Politicians,
scientists and or even military power cannot save us but the gospel of Jesus
Christ can. The church is commanded to go forth. We are to be witnesses “to the
ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The white horse must be ahead of the other horses. In other
words, we need to reach the lost be for the judgment comes. In Revelation
14:14-20, it says that there is a harvest of wheat followed by the “grapes of
wrath” which signifies the harvest of Judgment. The Church needs to rise up and
do the work of God before it is too late. Jesus gave us an illustration in
Matthew 13:24-30 in the parable of the wheat and tares.
He explains its meaning in Matthew 13:36-43. He who sowed
the good seed was the Son of Man, the field was the world, and the good seeds
were the sons of the kingdom, but the tares were the sons of the wicked one.
The enemy who sowed the tares was the Devil, the harvest was the end of age and
the reapers were the angels or God’s messengers. Therefore as the tares were
gathered and burned in the fire, so it would be at the end of this age.
Therefore, we need to do evangelism before the end comes and before the enemy
sows his seed of wickedness. There will come a harvest of the good seed during
which the tares will be also gathered and burned. God has His time for the end
of age. We need to work while it is day. (John 9:4) We are the answer for the
destiny of his nation. The only way our nation, our family can be saved is when
we, the Church, rise up. Be bold and courageous for the Lord your God is with
you! He has called us to be like the rider of the white horse, taking the
message of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. Be faithful, be
industrious and committed! We can be a witness today, before it is too late!
Issue 42 November – December 1996