The Harvest Part 1 (mandate To The Nations) by Apostle Joshua Selman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Three layers of scripture

• Doctrinal - the methodical presentation of scripture that helps you learn God as He designed. The word doctrine comes from the Latin doctrina: a set of beliefs that transit a student to reflect the knowledge of the master. The end point of doctrine is that the student becomes like the master.
• Prophetic - the unique revelation the Holy Spirit gives you from a scripture, applicable to you alone. It becomes an error when you convert a prophetic speaking into a doctrine. Under the prophetic, any scripture can mean anything with respect to what God is doing in your life.

Example: Galatians 2:2. Paul said "I went up by revelation." Contextually he just meant he moved to another region. But the Spirit can carve a prophetic meaning out of it - we ascend in the spirit and in life on account of revelation. You never go down when you have revelation. You cannot make a doctrine of this, but it profits you.

God's end-time program is threefold

1. A program to the world of unbelievers

   Uniquely carved out to the unsaved. Outside the fold, you will be at a loss as to what He is doing.

2. A program to the church

   The believing world, His body.

3. A program to territories and society

These three do not carry the same value per season. In order of spiritual priority, the most important is God's program to the lost.

The Great Commission is holistic

For the average believer the Great Commission means only evangelism. But it has three dimensions - explore all three together: Mark 16:15, Matthew 28, Acts 1:8.

• Preaching - Mark 16:15. Preach means to declare, to announce a message already given, to every creature.
• Discipling/teaching - Matthew 28. Disciple nations, teaching them to observe all He taught.
• Witnessing - Acts 1:8. Power to be witnesses unto Him in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth. A witness does not use words alone; a witness validates the reality of a person and the truthfulness of a statement.

Preaching, teaching and witnessing are not the same. If you do not understand this, your Christian experience will be very ineffective.

The journey: salvation to witness

Salvation affects your spirit man. The journey to transformation affects your mind, turning you into a believer. But even then you cannot perform the mandate as a mere believer - you must transit to become a witness.

You don't need empowerment as a believer; you need enlightenment and transformation. Empowerment happens when you are a witness.

Whilst under Jesus, the disciples got lecture after lecture. Only when their minds were transformed did He say tarry until you be endued with power. We have corrupted the formula - people get saved and immediately cry for the anointing. That is a corruption of the protocol.

Transformation happens when three forces are available:

1. The force of the word
2. The ministry of the Holy Spirit
3. The ministry of the teaching priests

The Ethiopian eunuch said, "How can I understand except some man explain it unto me?" Acts 8:31. He had the writings but still needed a teaching priest. Growth becomes methodical, line upon line, precept upon precept. When you are transformed, you convert from believer to witness - and only a witness can be sent to the nations. God does not call you into an assignment; He calls you to Himself, then sends you to the nations.

God our Savior has a desire

1 Timothy 2:1-4. After urging prayer for those in authority, Paul reveals the Savior's twofold desire:

1. That all men be saved
2. That those who are saved come onto the knowledge of the truth

Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. John 3:15, John 3:16, John 3:17 - "For God so loved the world..." Whosoever. He did not send His Son to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

The harvest

Matthew 9:36. When He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion, for they were weary and scattered like sheep having no shepherd. He did not see things, He saw men.

Matthew 9:37. "The harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few." Matthew 9:38 - "Pray ye the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest."

In the mind of God, everyone who is not saved is called the harvest - not a sinner, the harvest. The harvest is always ripe. The problem is never the harvest; it is the quality and inefficiency of the laborers wasting the harvest.

Teaser (evening): everybody is a farmer, and there are two soils. Galatians 6:8 - he that sows to the flesh reaps of the flesh; he that sows to the spirit reaps of the spirit.

Send, not find. "Send" captures the whole process - finding, training, building, accrediting, then sending. Every laborer must know how to use the sickle, the instrument of harvest.

World evangelization is everybody's business

2 Peter 3:9. The Lord is not slack, but long-suffering, not willing that any should perish. For anyone who perishes, it is outside of God's will.

The first apostolic message - Acts 2. Peter preached "this same Jesus whom you crucified has been exalted as Lord and Christ." They were cut to the heart: "What shall we do?" "Repent for the remission of your sin."

The mission to the lost is every man's business - not the evangelist's, not the pastor's alone. You cannot say you love God and not be interested in what satisfies His desires.

"Simon Bar-Jonah, lovest thou me more than these?" "Feed my sheep. Feed my lamb." John 21. Something you do about the lost is the proof that you love Him. Those who truly love God are those who become active participants in bringing His desire to fulfillment.

Why the laborers are few

Many who are laborers do not know they are laborers. They look up to a few - the Billy Grahams, the Reinhard Bonnkes - and call only them laborers.

If the world had only two or three great preachers, it still would not be saved, because they are men - not omnipresent, not omniscient, they get tired, some die doing ministry because the laborers are few.

The dangerous orientation: a handful of ministers carry the mandate while the rest stand as cheerleaders. God's desire is that across every region there be enough laborers, trained, mentored, built, empowered by the Spirit.

The average churchgoer is not apostolic in understanding or training, but needy - coming only to receive things to make ends meet, with no thinking kingdom-come in their pursuit.

Your relevance and longevity are tied to His program

Psalm 118:17 - "I shall not die, but live and declare." The basis for long life is not the fear of death; it is that you are needed to serve the purposes of the kingdom. If you are not declaring...

Psalm 105:14-15 - He suffered no man to do them wrong; He reproved kings for their sakes. There are some so planted in God's program that He can reprove kings for them.

Luke 22:35 - "When I sent you, lacked you anything?" Provision was meant to honor your passion for service. Your portion has not come because it came and did not find a laborer.

The passion of the apostles

Paul in prison was not thinking about his deliverance, but writing to straighten churches. Acts 16 - Paul and Silas; the jailer about to kill himself. "Don't kill yourself. You are a harvest. Your family is a harvest. Can we go to your house?" To the point of death, these men were only concerned about salvation - and that is why their experience carried the power we still pray and fast for.

Most who carried the anointings we admire did not pray for them. They prayed only for a heart. Billy Graham prayed only for a heart and an opportunity to reach the unreached, and became an advisor to kings, one of the few to preach in North Korea.

We isolate ourselves from God's program and then make demands. Demands should only come when they find you in active duty as a laborer. A laborer is worthy - Luke 10:7. It is not something to beg about.

The name changes everything

The parable of the ninety-nine and the one Luke 15. Jesus leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one. If there was only one sinner on earth, He would still die. He did not die because of numbers; He died because of love. Every one person was worth the sacrifice.

If you call people sinners, you flee from them to avoid corruption. Call them the harvest, and you become a laborer in partnership with God for their salvation. Call your unsaved husband the harvest, not a troublemaker. See the prostitute as a harvest and John chapter 4 can happen. See the madman of Gadara as the harvest, not a threat.

Three things every laborer must have

1. Know where the field is

   You cannot be a laborer and not know where to harvest. Jesus gave the location already - everywhere there are men. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost part Acts 1:8. The bank, the market, the internet - wherever you find men is the field.

2. Know how to use the sickle

   No matter how mechanized, you must learn how to harvest. When the harvest looks tough, it is not tough - the laborer was not trained. Every harvest is malleable depending on the efficiency of the laborer.

3. Know the message that saves

   Not every information about Jesus saves. T.L. Osborn wrote "The Message That Saves." If you believe Jesus was a prophet, a good man, a teacher - you are right, but none of that saves. Even demons believe Jesus. There is an exact body of revelation about Jesus that translates to salvation.

You are a co-laborer

Your confidence comes from working in partnership with the Lord of the harvest. In the book of Ruth, Boaz was in the field with his people while they harvested. The Lord of the harvest is not the Father, not Jesus - He is the Holy Spirit, the supervisor of this project. This is why we do not fail.

The threefold revelation of Jesus

Peter, speaking by the Spirit: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." Matthew 16. "Upon this revelation I will build my church." Acts 2 - "this same Jesus... exalted as Lord and Christ." To be saved and to be an effective laborer you must know Him as Savior, Lord and Christ.

Jesus as Savior

Luke 19:10 - "The Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." He came to seek first, then to save. Titus 2:13 - our great God and Savior. The revelation of His love and forgiveness. Romans 5:8 - while we were yet sinners, Christ loved us and forgave us.

The gospel of salvation is a revelation of the Father's love, captured through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, with man and creation as the object. When it has to do with the harvest, the name of the sickle is love. If what you preach is not the love of Jesus, sinners will not be saved.

Ezekiel 18:20 - the soul that sinneth, it shall die. By God's justice, everyone should die for his own sin. So Jesus put the whole world in Himself by covenant and died the death of every man, to impart His righteousness.

The cross: He hung naked, watching the very people He fed and healed cry "Crucify Him." The woman with the issue of blood, Bartimaeus, Lazarus - they all ran, yet He did not abort the project. "It is finished."

Scene two, revealed to Paul: He died as sin, not as a sinner, and went to Hades. Satan did not know His death was part of the wisdom of God. He made a public show of the powers, triumphing over them. He collected the keys - Revelation 1:18, "I am He that was dead and now am alive." He led captivity captive Ephesians 4:8, and preached to the departed saints in the prison 1 Peter 3:19. Graves opened at His resurrection.

Mary stood in the garden and said "Rabboni." John 20. "Touch me not - the mission is not over. He came to give us more than forgiveness; He came to give us victory."

Then the coronation service in heaven - Philippians 2 - God highly exalted Him. The switch from Savior to Lord.

Jesus as Lord

The revelation of dominion. Philippians 2:10 - every knee bows, every tongue confesses when you invoke His lordship. Psalm 110:1 - "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand." Ephesians 2:6 - we are seated with Him. Psalm 24:1 - the earth is the Lord's.

If you do not know Him as Lord you can be saved but never manifest kingdom authority. Your lordship is not absolute; it is derived, and only functions under submission - out of that governing influence, it will not work.

The lordship gives value to His being Savior. As you go, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers as proof that He can save Matthew 10. The missionaries to Africa knew Him as Savior but not as Lord, and died of things they had the dominion to avoid. Satan uses men, systems and the elements of creation to fight the program of God - but no divination stands, because He is Lord.

Jesus as Christ

Christos - the anointed, and the empowerment that comes with Him. Philippians 4:13 - I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. That includes bringing difficult harvests to the fold.

The revelation of Jesus as Christ gives capacity and strengthens your witness. 1 Corinthians 1:24 - Christ the wisdom of God and the power of God. The empowerment did not come on sinners; it strengthens the laborer to do unusual things. Psalm 18:29 - by You I run through a troop and leap over a wall.

The wisdom to exert dominion over the cosmos resides in the revelation of the Christ. This is the realm of territorial transformation. Many know Him as Savior and are convinced of His lordship, yet cannot demonstrate the kingdom - they do not know Him as Christ.

The garment of the wolf. Matthew 10:16 - be wise as serpents, gentle as doves. The location of the harvest sometimes demands you wear a certain regalia - a PhD, a business, a company - not to deceive, but to gain access to a space designed to reject those holding a visible sickle. The spies used this to enter Jericho. No terrorist comes as a terrorist; they come as doctors and professors. This is where the wisdom to take over the cosmos comes from.

Ephesians 3:10 - that unto principalities and powers might be made known by the church the manifold, multifaceted wisdom of God.

Charge to Leicester

This church was planted apostolically to bring the harvest and to help discouraged laborers hold the sickle. There are many tired laborers who waited from morning till night, saw no harvest and said "I'm tired." God says, hold on - you are still a laborer, you just need to be trained.

2 Timothy 2:5 - he that strives for mastery is not crowned unless he strive lawfully. Jeremiah 3:15 - I will give you pastors according to my heart, and they will feed you. Iron sharpens iron Proverbs 27:17.

Being a pastor is a process that leads to being an effective laborer who trains others. The apostles came down from the Mount of Transfiguration to an epileptic they could not heal Matthew 17 - a revelation of how difficult the harvest becomes when you are untrained.

Psalm 144:1 - He teacheth my hands to war, my fingers to fight. There is a skill to holding the sword so you do much for the kingdom - you access His wisdom and reveal it in a way that dumbfounds principalities and powers.

The harvest is truly wide, but the laborers are few - unskilled, untrained, frustrated.

• I desire to be a laborer. Beyond church member, pastor, banker, entrepreneur, parent, spouse - I desire that switch to be a laborer.
• I love You enough to see the unsaved saved through the efficiency of my witness.
• Teach my hands to war, teach my fingers to fight. Bring me to a realm of mastery and grace.

A season is ending and another is beginning. Once you are part of what God is doing, your prayer points become few - seek first the kingdom, and all these things shall be added.