“Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So, He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.” Revelation 14:15b-16, NKJV
One of the most important truths concerning the final harvest of souls is that the harvest of the earth is going to be reaped by the Son of Man (Jesus) Himself. However, before that takes place, the opportunity to harvest the souls of the end times is given to the “reapers”. These people will collect the “wheat into God’s barn”. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:30.
Actually, what the reapers do reflects the ultimate work of the Great Reaper Himself. We can imagine it as if the Lord Jesus said to the reaper “Please reap as many souls as possible, do your last part. I will end this final harvest perfectly.” ‘Final harvest’ is the least privilege to work with Him. We are now in the era of the Third Pentecost, the greatest and last harvest before the second coming of Jesus. The question is, are we numbered among the people who embrace and receive the last privilege to harvest the souls?
There are 3 things that will take place during the last harvest. First is the greater acceleration of harvest. In the era of the final harvest, God will add more reapers to harvest souls, in response to the prayer that Jesus taught Himself: “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Luke 10:2, NIV. Acceleration will lead to the greatest harvest! The acceleration shows that there are more and more people who get out of their comfort zone and go into His harvest field to reap, Matthew 20:3. In this Third Pentecostal era, we will see many people in the marketplace called to take part in completing the Great Commission and reap the souls in the marketplace.
Secondly, in the era of the final harvest, God will bestow His mercy and grace on ‘new’ people, those who may be considered young, inexperienced, feel that they don’t have enough resources, and maybe even new converts. God is able to empower all those who are unworthy and incapable to become reapers of the end times. The Holy Spirit, who two thousand years ago was able to transform simple Galilean fishermen into witnesses of God who reached the ends of the earth, is the same Holy Spirit who in these days will transform each of us into reapers of the ‘last hour’. It’s never too late to start taking part as reapers. There may be people who have wasted a large portion of their lives pursuing personal desires and careers and feel that it is too late to start the ministry. Not so! Make a decision today to become a reaper of souls. Start witnessing in the midst of family, friends, and people who do not know the Lord Jesus.
Thirdly, the great reversal. “So, the last will be first, and the first will be last” Matthew 20:16. Which worker are we? New workers get ready to witness God’s great works. Old workers keep guarding your heart to stay focused on the Kingdom of God matters.
Source: GBI Gatot Subroto’s Article, Jakarta