Last Sunday, Peter Malins shared with us about his work in Japan, and alerted us to the importance for missionary work in Japan.
Writing for The Gospel Coalition, Mark Rogers writes about the need for mission work in Japan:
“Molds need to be broken among the Japanese people, the second largest unreached people group in the world. After nearly 500 years of Christian witness, the evangelical Christian population is only 0.25%. Missionary work is legal there, but many missionaries labor for years and see very few come to Christ.”
We should pray for Japan and in particularly pray for the gospel workers in Japan who are labouring to see people come to Christ. We should not be discouraged by the statistics. God is at work, and He will make Himself known to every nation! We need to get involved in what God is doing to make Himself known to the world.
You may ask, why should we be so concerned about the progress of the gospel in other countries? The Bible makes it very clear that God is at work across the entire earth to make His glory known among all people groups, in all nations. Here are some verses to remind us of this important truth:
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.” – Psalm 22:27
“I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise You forever and ever.” – Psalm 45:17
“And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” – Revelation 5:9
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let Your glory be over all the earth!” – Psalm 108:5
God is glorified where Christ is proclaimed. Christ must be proclaimed throughout the whole earth for the whole earth to be filled with the glory of God, because Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God!
So let’s pray that Christ is proclaimed in every nation, in every language, so that the glory of the Lord will cover the whole earth. God will most certainly do this, and Jesus will be worshipped by people from every tribe, in every language, from every people group in every nation. We have been given this grace to participate in this amazing display of God’s glory among the nations. Let’s be active participants in this mighty work, and begin on our knees, praying for those whom Christ has sent to countries just like Japan, to be His witnesses.
Don’t underestimate the importance of prayer for missionary work. Jesus said:
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” – Luke 10:2
