REV. KAYODE OYEGOKE
ISAIAH 61:1:” The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound”;
LUKE 4:18:“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”
It is not all harvest that are green. The sickle harvest is not a green harvest. Without people getting born again, the harvest cannot commence. That is the green harvest. Beyond the green harvest is another level of harvest. There is the harvest of the first fruit and the harvest of the precious fruit.
ROMANS 8:19:“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”;
II CORINTHIANS 5:5: “ Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.”;
EPHESIANS 1:13-14: ” In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
Harvest begins with the earnest of the Spirit. It is the down payment for the redemption of our body. The down payment of the Holy Ghost is the first fruit. It will take the Spirit to get any one born again. It is good that we experience the former rain so that when the latter rain comes we can know how to handle it. The gifts of the Spirit are needed in the first fruit experience. The Gospel is the meal of the word. We need the endowment and the direction of the Spirit in order to be good evangelists. We need the wisdom and power of the Holy Ghost. We also need to be sound in the word of God.
ROMANS 10:9-13: ” That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”;
[biblegateway passage=”ACTS 8:26-40″ display=”ACTS 8:26-40″]
In reaching out to unbelievers, we have to focus on the recreation of their spirit man rather than their sins. We get more sinners saved by not confronting them with their sins. We need to tell them about the good news. The Holy Ghost hates religion and inaccuracy in handling God’s word. When we operate in God’s word, the gifts of the Spirit flow. We must make them know that if they can call upon the name of Jesus they shall be saved. We have to teach them faith instead of hammering on sin. That way, they will get in before knowing it. When we operate in the gifts of the Spirit, the initial harvest becomes very easy. We cannot reach certain hearts because we have not built ourselves up enough to subdue them. The kind of evangelism strategies we need vary from person to person; generation to generation and location to location.
JAMES 5:7: “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.”;
ISAIAH 4:1-2: ” And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.”
The last day harvest is the harvest of the precious fruits of the earth. What will birth the precious fruit of the earth is the fullness of the early and the latter rain. There is the early rain moderately, there is the latter rain which comes with the former rain fully. These bring the precious fruits of the earth which the husbandman can taste.
The first fruit is a product of the early rain and the husbandman does not partake of this. He wants the precious fruits and that requires a process of maturity. He will only eat precious things. The fruits of the earth are supposed to morph into an excellent and comely nature. Every excellent participator in the harvest will be ready to develop himself unto the uttermost. A time is coming when this earth will be difficult for ministers who do not work on themselves to the end. Those who remain first fruits have little profit to contribute to the harvest. The Church will not be able to affect society if She does not develop capacity. God is depending on matured people in His things to complete the work.
MATTHEW 28:18-19:“ And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;
LUKE 1:76: ” And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;”;
LUKE 3-3: “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;”
After Jesus resurrected from the dead, He kept saying and saying. He continued ministry after resurrection by ‘saying’. The ministry of saying was crucial immediately He was glorified. He left the elementary issues of healing the sick and raising the dead for his disciples.
There are powers in heaven and powers on earth. All these powers are available unto us as we go into the world teaching all nations. We cannot transfer power without teaching. Part of the harvest is to raise men who have been born again through teaching. We teach all nations by baptizing them. This baptism is not just about water. This baptism is training.
The working of miracles and the healing of the sick require earthly powers. To get someone born again, we need heavenly power. The teaching of the word is power. The gifts of the Spirit can raise the human body but they cannot raise the human spirit from the dead. Signs and wonders touch the heart and stir up faith so that the powers of heaven can be activated for the salvation of the spirit. Don’t swing into action until you have known the Godhead. The core of our work is to baptize people into the knowledge of Divinity.
Even for John the Baptist, the real baptism was not about water; it was about his preaching of baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. John had the mandate to administer the knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of sins. Without his preaching, sin would not be remitted. Baptism is a teaching work. The name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost serve as storage for all the powers on the earth and in heaven. Without the teaching of the Trinity, power cannot be made available. The Power of the Father, the Power of the Son and the Power of the Holy Ghost were made available to Jesus after the resurrection. All the powers were imputed into Him.
ACTS 9:15: “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel”;
EPHESIANS 1:13: “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise;”
ROMANS 16:25-26:” Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith”;
ROMANS 1:5:“ By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name”
The Holy Ghost was the first to come after Jesus left the earth. Many great works that are being done today are in the name of the Holy Ghost. Many have not even begun to scratch the name of the Son. The name of the Holy Ghost is the earnest of our inheritance. The early apostles were the first to go out in that name. The persecution of the Church led to them stepping into the second name-the name of the Son. To have the Holy Ghost is to be sealed by Him. The sealing is also an inheritance. The Holy Ghost is the Promise from the Promise. The first Promise is the Spirit. We cannot come into the ultimate Promise without the Spirit.
You can’t go before the Gentiles and the Kings without the name of the son. Paul was mandated to bear the name of the Son before the Gentiles and the Kings. Our work will be more advanced when we begin to bear the Son. Transiting from the Holy Ghost to the Son appears to be difficult. Once you have the son, you have the Father. God wants the Church to get sealed in the name of the Son. We will be limited in our operations if we do not bear all the names. To be sealed by the name of Christ, we need to be taught. We can have the name of the Holy Ghost without been established. The name of the Son is essential. Without the Son forget all powers! Paul preached Jesus Christ because he had a revelation of the Son. When we are continually taught the Son we become sons ourselves by being sealed by His name. Without the mystery that was kept secret forget the Son! The teaching of the Son is power translated into word. Knowing Jesus is mystery. The scriptures of the prophets are custodians of secret powers. God wants us to be sealed by the name of the Son. That is the second baptism.
The name of the Father is a more excellent name. Once you understand the Son, the name of the Father is easy to access. You cannot capture a person when you don’t have commensurate stature. People have to see themselves in you in order to accept you. The Greeks saw awesome knowledge in Paul and they were able to accept his message.
REVELATION 2:26-27: ” And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.”
To have power over the nations is to overcome the one who has held them down. We need all the names of the Godhead to overcome the nations. He that overcomes and keeps the word to the end will have power. Jesus did the word for thirty years but God still waited for another three and half years to see if He would keep the works unto the end. Fortunately, Jesus passed the test and he was endued with the power of the Godhead.