Derek Prince - Reap The Harvest While It Can Be Reaped
This is an excerpt from: The Two Harvests
I want to turn to one closing passage. Let me say this, too. I think it will affect the way you speak to people if you believe in the judgment of God. I don’t have time to go into this from the Scripture. But I just want to turn mentally to Revelation 6, the famous four horsemen of the book of Revelation. The white horse going out conquering and to conquer; The red horse bringing death and violence and bloodshed. The black horse bringing scarcity, rationing, famine.
And finally, the pale horse bringing widespread death. Now, I believe those represent phases in which God is bringing the age to a close. I note that all four horses came by an order from heaven. The red horse, the black horse, the pale horse. In other words, God’s judgments are by His order. But I’m interested in the white horse. It says of the white horse it went forth conquering and to conquer. Now, there are a lot of different theories but I’ll tell you what it means to me. The white horse is Jesus on the gospel, going forth. And He’s pictured in Psalm 45 in humility and righteousness, riding forth with His sword on His thigh. And this to me pictures the gospel going out with tremendous urgency because of the judgments that are to follow. The red horse, the black horse, the pale horse.
I believe all four horses are riding out today. I believe the red horse is at work. The black horse is certainly at work in Africa. Famine, malnutrition, The pale horse bringing death. But my conviction is this, this is what motivates me. I think Ruth and I can see this in our mind’s eye day and night. The white horse has got to stay ahead of the other horses. We’ve got to get to people before the other horses get there. We’ve got to give them the offer of mercy before the judgment of God descends. And this is urgent. It won’t wait. It’s not a matter of your convenience; it’s not a matter of when it suits you. It’s a matter of reaping the harvest while it can be reaped. Of bringing the message of mercy to millions and billions of people, many of whom will respond if they hear in time.
If you haven’t traveled in some third world nations you probably don’t understand that there’s a longing in the heart of humanity, put there by the Holy Spirit, to hear the truth about Jesus. We were in Pakistan, which is a 98 percent Moslem nation, and we preached publicly in three or four cities. In the course of nine days about 9,000 people indicated their desire to receive Jesus. And of them, at least half were Moslems. I’m not saying they were all saved, but what I do say is they wanted to hear the gospel. Brothers and sisters, this is the harvest hour. And remember, a son who sleeps in the harvest causes his father shame. May that not be said of any of us. Amen? God bless you.