JOHN 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Jesus came to earth carrying the glory of God, the light of God, the power of God:
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.
NOW HE SAYS IT’S YOUR TURN
MATTHEW 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Jesus urges, “Let your light shine. Carry My goodness to the peoples of this world. Let you light shine in this dark world. You are called to carry the glory, the goodness of God. This is your calling.” The Bible tells us that eventually God’s glory or goodness will fill the whole earth.
After the Apostle James stated that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights, he wrote this in the next verse:
JAMES 1:18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.
James is saying that we who are born of God are the first fruits, the first of a new creation, a new species of people on the earth, and we have been given the responsibility of carrying the glory and the goodness of God to the rest of humanity. This is our primary calling. To become the light of the world, through conformity to the image of Jesus Christ.
There will be a generation of Christians who will carry God’s glory in its fulness and reap the final harvest. These are the ones spoken of by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 60:
ISAIAH 60:1-5 1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. 5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea (humanity) shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
MATTHEW 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
In Matthew, chapter 24, the Lord describes prevailing conditions in the earth just prior to the rapture and His second coming. Some of the most frightening conditions that the world will ever experience are listed in the chapter.
However, right in the middle of all of these catastrophes, Jesus said this: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matthew 24:14)
Harvest Amidst Chaos
The greatest and final harvest will be reaped in the worst of times. This is no ordinary harvest; this harvest is described in many places in the Bible:
AMOS 9:13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
JOEL 2:24 And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. 25 And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
ISAIAH 60:5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee,
MATTHEW 13:39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
The number of times this harvest is mentioned in the Scriptures, is an indication of the importance and magnitude of this event. This harvest is the culmination of thousands of years of planning. God has waited until there are more people on this earth than at any other time in history, and He intends to scoop up as many as he can from the sea of humanity in this final event.