Scripture: Luke 10 v 2: "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He would send forth labourers into His harvest."
2 Thessalonians 2 v 1 - 4: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
Jesus says the harvest is ready to be gathered in. The harvest is the souls of those ready to be saved. He has sent His angels to separate the chaff from the wheat.
This work has speeded up in recent years as the season of apostasy has taken greater hold. Apostasy will cause the "falling away" spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2 v 3 which will cause the man of perdition, The Antichrist, to appear. It is already well advanced in many churches who are on the broadway to destruction and do not diligently check doctrines for truth and error.
The chaff represents those who are "chaffing"! Its a slang word meaning 'pretending'. There are many who pretend to be Christians, who are wolves in sheep's clothing, who gain the trust and acceptance of the sheep just before they fleece them.
This fleecing is not beneficial to the sheep as it removes their anointed spiritual covering and lays them bare to the attack of the enemy. Jesus is calling on the labourers to rise up and take care of the sheep, to build them up and teach them vigilance against Satan and his wolves. If your love for Jesus is real, you will be unable to ignore the plight of those who do not realise the danger they are in.
The problem is that there are so few labourers to gather the lost souls in, and tend their wounds. The wolves have injured them with heresies and false doctrines to turn the sheep off the strait (strict) and narrow (moral integrity) path which leads to life, onto the broad way (fun/money-loving/entertainment/laughter/self esteem/proud/false experiences) that leads to destruction.
Wolves do not like to be accountable to the flock. They announce that they are God's anointed and that you may not question their actions, nor their teachings. Jesus was not like that and there was no-one more anointed than He. Wolves single out the vulnerable and use them mercilessly to their own gain.
In John 10 Jesus says that His sheep do not listen to the voice of strangers because they know His voice and follow His truth. So if you have fallen prey to wolf-like pastors or evangelists, teachers or prophets, check that you are correctly born again, baptised thereafter, and then baptised in the Holy Spirit with His gifts operating in your life. This gets your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life, which is the most vital place for your name to be entered as it gets you eternal life in Heaven.
We can all be appointed as labourers in the Harvest, as we are all able to share our faith in Jesus with one person a day or once a week tell someone that Jesus loves them. The only thing you can take to Heaven are the souls you have rescued from the flames of Hell. We are a kingdom of priests so we all have the blessing of God to witness to others about our Faith in Jesus.
Hell is real and a place of terrible torment at the mercy of a hateful and cruel master Wolf. Would you want to know that your spouse or children are on their way to eternal damnation and do nothing to turn them onto the right path. Your friends or colleagues may seem to reject your testimony but the Holy Spirit will use it to open their hearts to the truth.
So make a choice to be a labourer, a reaper of the harvest and allow the Lord to use you in His work. He needs those who can recognise the wolves and warn the sheep of their presence and the deadly poison in their bag of tricks. Even if you only have the opportunity to pray daily for the lost, do not neglect to spend quality time with the Lord and letting Him guide you in this important task.
Paul named and shamed the wolves he encountered and prayed for them to be handed over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh so that they could still have hope of salvation. 1 Corinthians 5 v 5; 1 Timothy 1 v 18 - 20. This is only a last resort as they will feel the full wrath of God, and have to fight their battles alone.
When you are raised up let your work be a labour of love for Jesus and His Body. Years ago a young lady boarded the first ship she saw in Southampton harbour and asked Jesus to make her effective for His kingdom wherever it reached its destination. That was Hong Kong. Her name is Jackie Pullinger and by her faith and dedication she penetrated the triads and drug dens and set the captives free. Even the druglords respect her. Read her famous book, Chasing the Dragon, her testimony of a labour of love.
Prayer: Heavenly Father the time of the great harvest is near and I ask to be raised up as part of Your team of workers to help in any way I can to keep everyone I know from eternal fire. Teach me to recognise the wolves in sheep's clothing that I may warn Your flock of danger. In Jesus' name. Amen.
