Derek Prince - How To Save More Souls For Eternity
This is an excerpt from: The Two Harvests
And then we move on into the New Testament and I’m going to read a passage that I read in the previous session. Matthew 13:39, just one very simple statement. 'The harvest is the end of the age.' Brothers and sisters, it’s important to remember this age is not going to last forever. What’s your response? You say 'praise the Lord'? I do. I wouldn’t want the present age to last forever, it’s a mess. And, it’s getting worse. The good news is, it isn’t going to last forever; it’s coming to a climax. And it’s going to climax with a harvest. The harvest is the end of the age. I used to read a British poet called T.S. Elliott. In the days when I was intellectual and not spiritual. I don’t know what I am today. He had a poem called 'The Wasteland'. I don’t suppose any of you ever spent time reading it.
But, one of his statements was, 'The worlds move to their ends like old women gathering fuel in a vacant lot.' He’s wrong. The world is not going to end in an anticlimax. It’s going to come to a climax. God is not the God of the anticlimax. And the harvest is going to be the climax. The harvest is the end of the age. The word end is the not the normal word for end, it’s 'the consummation of the age'. It’s the bringing together of all the threads of the age in one grand climax. Then one other passage from the New Testament which lines up with all of this. James 5:7–8: Therefore, be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Until what? The coming of the Lord, that’s right. What is the goal? What is it we’re looking forward to? The coming of the Lord, that’s right. And we have to be patient until then.
See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth [that’s the harvest], waiting for it patiently until he receives the early and latter rain. Notice the harvest cannot be gathered in. No matter how much the farmer may long for the harvest, it will not come in until he’s received the former and the latter rain. This is true with the natural; it’s also true in the spiritual. And James goes on to apply it: You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. What’s the climax? The coming of the Lord. But it only can come when the harvest has been gathered in. And the harvest cannot be gathered in until the latter rain has fallen.
And so you have three events that come in succession. I don’t think the Bible indicates the exact period of time. First of all, the latter rain. Secondly, the ingathering of the harvest. Thirdly, the coming of the Lord. Now, no one knows the day or the hour of the Lord’s coming. Furthermore, I tell you, I don’t even know the year. But I believe it’s very close. Probably closer than most of us really have adjusted our thinking to. I’m not saying He’ll come in this millennium. I don’t know when He’ll come, but I think He’ll come sooner than most of us expect. But, He’s going to come in divine order. Things have got to be the way God says they will be.
The latter rain, the harvest, the final ingathering of souls and the coming of the Lord. And because of the population explosion, which by the next millennium will reach six billion, they tell us. That’s a staggering figure, we can't really comprehend what six billion people are like. If there is a sovereign move of the Holy Spirit poured out upon the church and poured out upon the people that don’t even know what Christianity is. And if the church recognizes the purpose of the rain. And is equipped and obedient and goes out in the power of the Spirit, equipped with the supernatural gifts of the Spirit, it is perfectly possible that in one decade more souls will be saved than have been saved in all the previous history of the church. Personally, I think that’s an understatement. I think there’s going to be a vast ingathering of souls into the kingdom of God. And I think it’s very close at hand.
Now I want to talk for a moment about vision. The book of Proverbs says where there is no vision people cast off restraint. They become undisciplined. The thing that enables us to be disciplined is vision. I don’t know whether you’ve realized that. For instance, you take athletes who compete in the Olympics. And of course, we have the Commonwealth Games right at hand. But, to get to that stage in the athletic world you have to practice the most intense discipline, governing your whole life: what you eat, the exercise you take, the books you read, your mental preparation, the hours you sleep, the training. It’s intense. What makes those men and women willing to go through that discipline? Vision.
A man sees himself jumping higher than anybody else has ever jumped. Or jumping further or running faster or throwing a javelin. And with that vision before his eyes, he’ll subject himself to a discipline that most Christians wouldn’t even think about. But Paul compares the Christian life to the life of an athlete. And he says every athlete is self-controlled in everything he does. And Christians have got to be equally self-controlled if they’re going to win the gold medal. That’s my paraphrased version of 1 Corinthians 9, at the end. I don’t want to turn there. Where there is no vision, people cast off restraint. I apply this and I just ask you all to sit on your hands right now. Don’t give yourself away.
But, how many of you, remember, you’re sitting on your hands how many of you have tried to diet at least once and lose weight? How many of you have succeeded? How many of you have tried twice? Well anyhow, let’s not go into it. You know the essence of successful dieting? Vision. You see yourself the way you think you ought to look. And when that... what is it I ate today? Pavlova. When that pavlova is in front of you, you see your waistline. And you say: 'No pavlova for me!' They’re laughing at me because I ate two portions! But, on the other hand, by the grace of God I’ve succeeded. I’m indulging myself a little at the moment. But, it takes vision. And it’s the same, you see. If we’re to be successful in reaping the harvest we have to have a vision of the harvest.
And really, my purpose tonight is to impart to you a vision that you’ll go out of here saying: Well, if it demands sacrifice, If it demands sleepless nights, if it demands giving up my job, if it demands going to some barren God-forsaken part of the earth, I’ve seen the vision. The vision is in front of my eyes. See what Jesus said to His disciples. They had the problem, they couldn’t see the vision. In John 4, after He had just been dealing with the woman of Samaria, verse 35, He said to His disciples: 'Do you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.'
See the difference in the vision of Jesus and the disciples? They could only see in the natural. They said the harvest isn’t due for four months. Jesus said, that’s not the way I see it. I look at the fields and I see them white already. And He reaped a very wonderful sheaf there at the well. There were those twelve Bible school students, they went into the village, got the food, came out, didn’t touch a soul. Jesus revealed Himself to the woman. She left her water pot, went into the village, told the whole village and the whole village came out to meet Jesus. One woman versus twelve Bible school students. Why? She had the vision. So, it’s a question of vision.