The Harvest of the Saints: The Gathering of the Firstfruits, the Main Harvest, and the Gleaning

By Jim Wainscott

The Harvest of the Saints was written to reintroduce and examine the “harvest concept,” an end-time rapture theory that has remained hidden in the shadows for over a century. Unlike most rapture scenarios that rely upon a limited framework of supporting Scripture, the harvest concept is based on a compelling body of biblical evidence that also provides insight into other related end-time events. Specific topics include

—           the clearly defined Old Testament blueprint of a traditional harvest and its application to an end-time harvest of the saints,

—           why Jesus will come both as a thief in the night and visibly in the clouds as our conquering King,

—           the importance of overcoming and the prospect of escaping “the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 3:10),

—           why outer darkness and the lake of fire represent two separate areas of confinement established to serve two entirely different purposes, and

—           the ordered sequence of end-time events, their purposes, and their interrelationships.

 

Please join me as we bring the “harvest concept” out of the shadows and into the light where we can “test all things; [and] hold fast what is good” (1 Thess. 5:21).

 Jim Wainscott

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Sep 13, 2018
• ISBN: 9781462412457

Jim Wainscott

In 1976, a divine encounter transformed Jim Wainscott from a professing atheist into a passionate follower of Christ. A former corporate trainer and motivational speaker, Jim has turned his attention to encouraging and assisting others in their pursuit of God’s highest calling. Jim and his wife, Lorna, currently reside in Boise, Idaho.

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Copyright © 2018 Jim Wainscott.

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Hebrew and Greek word definitions are taken from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright 1985, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise cited, scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Inspiring Voices

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-1244-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1245-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018910424

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 11/14/2023

Contents

Introduction

Part 1: Constructing the Framework

1. Essentials vs. Nonessentials

2. Preserved Complete and without Blame

3. An Inheritance at Stake

4. The Call to Overcome

5. Clothed in Righteousness

6. The Judgment Seat of Christ

7. Measuring Our Spiritual Growth

Part 2: A Review of the Harvest Blueprint

8. Saved, yet So as through Fire

9. A Traditional Harvest

10. A Second Look at the Book of Revelation

11. The Marriage Supper and the Millennial Reign

12. Outer Darkness and the Lake of Fire

13. Treasure Hunting In the Book of Revelation

14. An End-Time Picture Begins to Emerge

15. A Few Final Thoughts

Appendix: Time Line Suggested by the Harvest Concept

Also by Jim Wainscott

The High Calling of God

A Practical, Bible-Based Tutorial

for Overcomers-in-Training

The Remnant

God takes special pleasure in His remnant—that relatively small number of individuals who willingly and persistently seek the fulfillment of His expressed will. For this precious few, God has revealed His intent to reward them far beyond their earthly ability to imagine. God calls this elite company, His overcomers.

"He who overcomes shall inherit all things [emphasis added], and I will be his God and he shall be My son" (Rev. 21:7).

Capitalization

Jim Wainscott has exercised author prerogative in capitalizing specific words for added emphasis. This departure from standard grammatical practices applies to the following words:

• All pronouns are capitalized when referring to individual members of the Godhead.

• Word is capitalized when referring to any portion of the written Word of God.

• Blood is capitalized when referring to the Blood of Christ.

• Cross is capitalized when referring to the Cross of Christ.

• Church and Body are capitalized when referring to the corporate total of all believers.

• Gospel is capitalized in all instances.

• Kingdom is capitalized when referring to the Kingdom of God and to the Millennial Kingdom.

• The word satan appears in lowercase with the exception of subtitles and when used at the beginning of sentences.

This book is

dedicated to those faithful few who, despite the rising tide of a liberal society, continue to press forward in pursuit of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Introduction

The Harvest of the Saints is a continuation of my previous work, The High Calling of God. Its purpose is to reintroduce and examine the harvest concept, an end-time rapture theory that was widely accepted during the 19th century. Among those noted Christian scholars who have supported the harvest concept are Hudson Taylor, G.H. Lang, Watchman Nee, Robert Chapman, Robert Govett, G.H. Pember, and D.M. Panton.*

For more than a century, the harvest concept has been largely hidden in the shadows. This is undoubtedly due to our relaxed Christian culture—a culture that allows believers to adopt an end-time view that offers them maximum freedom while requiring minimal accountability.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Tim. 4:3–4 NIV).

While the harvest concept offers tremendous hope and encouragement to aspiring overcomers, it’s not warmly embraced by those non-overcoming saints who are caught up in the pursuit of earthly pleasures.

The Harvest of the Saints was not written to discredit other rapture viewpoints, but rather to raise the question, What if the harvest concept truly is the biblical blueprint that provides increased insight into the specific nature and design of God’s end-time plan? To better appreciate the potential significance of this possibility, we might consider how the captain of the Titanic would have responded had he known of the iceberg prior to the disaster. Obviously, he would have altered his course and exercised greater caution. As history sadly records, the captain of the Titanic relied excessively upon his own assumptions and the assumptions of others. As a result, he sailed blindly into the iceberg.

So that we might avoid the possibility of a costly error in judgment, we should each ask ourselves, Am I willing to risk a portion of my eternal inheritance on the popular assumptions of others? While we still have the opportunity to alter our course, let’s wisely test all things; [and trust that God will help us discern and] hold fast what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). It would indeed be tragic if we were to ignore what might prove to be a timely gift from a loving Father who has already paid the supreme price for us.

Because of the complexity of some of the material to be presented, each chapter will build sequentially upon information provided in previous chapters. As a result, our discussion of the coming harvest, commonly referred to as the rapture, will not rest upon a limited framework of supporting Scripture, but upon a compelling body of biblical evidence that will also provide insight into other related end-time events. I believe we may very well discover that many of the details of God’s meticulously-designed end-time plan have been before our eyes all along.

* G.H. Lang, Firstfruits and Harvest, Kingsley Press, Indiana, 2012; Watchman Nee, The King and the Kingdom of Heaven, Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc., New York, 1978;

Part 1: Constructing the Framework

An Introduction to Chapters 1—7

Few believers today truly recognize the desensitizing influence of cultural values upon our Christian community. Almost without realizing it, many soften their interpretations of biblical truths to bring them more into line with the accepted norms of our current day. In doing so, they create for themselves an alternative Christian lifestyle, one suited to their own level of comfort and consistent with their own desires and ambitions.

Although we as believers should rejoice in the knowledge that we are eternally saved, we must not forget that our earthly decisions and behavior will be carefully reviewed by our Lord before the Judgment Seat of Christ. We must also understand that our Lord’s review of our lives on earth will be far more consequential than most of us have imagined.

Accordingly, chapters 1 through 7 address the critical need to be recognized as overcomers before the Judgment Seat of Christ. Although our failure to desire and pursue this level of recognition will not adversely impact our basic salvation, it will result in the loss of additional privileges and promises that our Lord has promised to those who overcome. As we will discover in our later review of the harvest concept, our standing as overcomers-in-training will be exceptionally important to us as we enter into the days ahead.

Chapter 1

Essentials vs. Nonessentials

Imagine if you will that you have been invited to join a large number of other believers at a grand buffet luncheon. Further imagine that as you enter the banquet hall, you see an almost endless buffet line containing every kind of food imaginable.

After filling your plate to its maximum capacity, you select a table and are about to be seated when someone across from you looks up and says, Excuse me, but you have broccoli on your plate. Surprised, you respond, Yes, I love broccoli. Your new friend then informs you that his church doesn’t believe in broccoli. Feeling a little puzzled, you ask, What’s wrong with it. Your friend then pauses and raises an eyebrow. By his reaction, you begin to suspect that he knows very little about broccoli. He simply believes what he has been taught.

Sensing that you now have the upper hand, you look at his plate and ask, By the way, what’s with the Brussels sprouts? Caught off guard, your friend meekly responds, It’s lawful for me to eat Brussels sprouts. Without hesitation, you counter with, Yes, but is it profitable? Observing that your opponent is now completely off balance, you move in for the coup de grace by calmly asking, And besides, what kind of a witness is it?

At this point, let’s pause and consider how God views some of the minor differences in biblical interpretations that can hinder our fellowship within the Body of Christ. Is it possible that God looks upon these differences, not as broccoli or Brussels sprouts, but as small potatoes, or nonessential issues?

Interestingly, the one item that all of the guests at the buffet luncheon had in common was their plate, which served as the essential foundation for everything placed upon it. In the same manner, the Gospel message, which serves as our sure foundation in Christ (see 1 Cor. 3:10–11), is the one essential, unshakeable core belief that joins together all who are redeemed in Christ. In contrast are those peripheral, nonessential issues that often attract a wide variety of opposing viewpoints. These nonessential issues would most certainly include those end-time prophesies that have yet to be fulfilled. Nearly 400 years ago, an unidentified, but truly insightful saint phrased it beautifully when he wrote,

In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things charity.

The message of The Harvest of the Saints includes a number of nonessential issues that represent a wide range of viewpoints within the Christian community. Our willingness to consider alternative interpretations, while holding fast to our sure foundation in Christ, is fully in keeping with the apostle Paul’s counsel to test all things; hold fast what is good (1 Thess. 5:21). Only as we allow the Holy Spirit the freedom to adjust our views by revealing to us, the unbiased truth of God’s Word, will we grow in spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age [worldly wisdom], he should become a fool so that he may become wise [spiritual wisdom] (1 Cor. 3:18 NIV).

Understanding the Word

All serious students of the Bible have discovered that it’s extremely difficult to accurately interpret Scripture without carefully considering both the original language and the context of surrounding Scripture. Additionally, our successful search of the Scriptures must be performed in conjunction with a growing relationship with Christ.

You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life (John 5:39–40 NASB).

We must also acknowledge that God has chosen to fashion His Word in such a way as to require the revelatory assistance of the Holy Spirit in opening our spiritual eyes and imparting understanding to us. Without this divine illumination, much of God’s Word will appear meaningless to us and, therefore, be subject to our own individual biases and interpretations.

The natural [soulish] man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14).

Layer upon Layer

Because of the Bible’s interwoven and harmonious design, an accurate understanding of a single biblical truth or principle will oftentimes illuminate other related truths or principles. In the same manner, our increased understanding of a major event will oftentimes provide spiritual insight into other related events. For this reason, we will first need to examine a number of important key issues, some of which were discussed in my previous work, The High Calling of God. Those issues pertinent to our presentation in later chapters include:

• Our full salvation—spirit, soul and body

• What it means to be an overcomer

• The Judgment Seat of Christ

Now, let’s begin the process of constructing our supporting framework by taking a closer look at the unique subtleties of our individual salvation.

* Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 7, pp. 650- 653 (repr. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, 1965)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Overcoming Treasures

The following reminders are provided to stimulate group discussion and to encourage personal reflection:

1. Remember that without the enabling assistance of the Holy Spirit, much of God’s Word will appear meaningless to us and, therefore, be subject to our own individual biases and interpretations.

2. Recognize that many of our