1969 - The Harvester Mission 40TH Anniversary

An old phrase but a constantly new application. As surely as season follows season in God’s ordered world, so He attends to the affairs of His people day after day after day. For forty years now the work of the Harvester Mission has continued a constant testimony to this faithfulness of the Lord. Certainly much credit must be given to a great many faithful servants of the Lord that have poured their life into this work over these numbers of years, but even their motivation has had to come from the Lord. The simple fact of the matter is that a few of His servants whose hearts were given to Him have put themselves in His hands and been used of Him to bring to a large number of people throughout this world some touch of Divine grace resulting either in their salvation, or in the deepening of their lives. So this work is not only a testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord with His people but also an indication of what a few people can do when touched by the Spirit of the Lord to make a strong impact on the world which our Lord came to redeem. Certainly this Messenger itself testifies to the outreach.

The expanding of this ministry has never come through promotion but rather by the quiet working of the Lord, which you have been participating with us, are well aware of. If there is any single Scripture text that would characterize our approach to the work it would be, "Not by might, nor by power, but My Spirit, saith the Lord." After all, the heart essence of any service to the Lord must really be not what we are doing for the Lord but what He is doing through us. Thus you see, it is not a matter of saying, "Lord, please help me do this work," but rather of saying, "Lord, please do your work through me." This may not lead us to a great work, as man "counts greatness," but it will lead us to a genuine work. We are in continual contact with thousands of the Lord’s children around the world, who are, in the way that the Lord has directed them, seeking to serve Him and struggling against our arch enemy, Satan. The work of some happens to be quite extensive, but of others quite limited. Nevertheless, as each is a channel through which the Lord is working, God’s perfect plan will be accomplished and His evaluation of the work will be based upon faithfulness and openness to Him rather than on the amount of work accomplished.

Now this is the Spirit in which we are doing our work here. Over the last year or two we have had a considerable amount of sickness and hindrances of various kinds which we take in part at least to be from Satan. And herein we are joining with Paul who said, "I would have come unto you once and again but Satan hindered me." So you see Paul did not always overcome these hindrances, but the Lord seemed to let them take their toll. We have not been able to get the Messenger out as often as we would like, and the correspondence has gotten piled up distressingly high, so that many of you have wondered whether or not we are still in existence. This is not easy to understand in view of the great demand for the literature everywhere, and in view of the millions and millions of souls that need help. No doubt many of you have faced the same trying situation and perhaps it has been frustrating to you. It is therefore of great importance to remember that Paul at the end of his life, in what were almost his last words on this earth, said, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." You see, Paul made no mention of his work, but rather the fact that he overcame the enemy and had been victorious throughout the period of his distresses.

In these words the servant of the Lord, plagued by hindrances, may take great courage. No matter what the circumstances you are now in, no matter how little you may seem to be accomplishing because of the hindrances and problems, just take each day in the name of the Lord and pray that He may be glorified through your life and then look not at what you have accomplished that day but rather at how much the Lord has been reflected through your life.

We had started to express a few thoughts in regard to the fortieth anniversary of the Harvester Mission and this is the direction which the Spirit chose to lead us in our remarks. These last number of months have been very difficult ones for us, yet through it all, the Lord has given great victory and peace. After all, He is the Lord of the harvest and the responsibility of getting the work done is His. Our job is simply to put ourselves at His disposal day by day. We felt that perhaps sharing some of these thoughts with you would be an encouragement in your own work.

May the Lord bless your hearts through the coming year and fill you with the joy of His presence, and fulfill in your lives all of His purpose, both in the development of your own soul and in the work that you are given to do.