“Lift up your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”
The first fruits of discipleship, following Jesus Christ, found themselves under severe persecution from both their Jewish brethren and the Roman Empire. However, Jesus’ words guided and sustained them through their trials:
“I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” (John 4:35b)
The Christians, facing brutal and savage persecution from Roman authorities, echoed a message of hope amidst suffering:
“Christians shed their blood, but through it, they sowed the seeds. Those seeds will sprout and grow.”
As countless brothers and sisters were tortured, maimed, and burned alive for their faith, their sacrifices only strengthened the remaining believers. Undeterred by the threat of death, they fixed their eyes on the souls Jesus described as ripe for harvest, faithfully following the call to spread the gospel. They boldly responded to their persecutors, saying:
“Crucify us, torture us, execute us, grind us to powder in the millstone, for your injustice will serve as the shining proof of our purity! The clear sign of your unrighteousness is that God has allowed us to suffer.” “Continue on your evil path and fashion instruments to torture Christians, but it will be of no use. Instead, it will only draw the world to love our faith. The more you try to kill us, the faster we will rise!”
These words, though recorded two thousand years ago, continue to ring true today. Christians in over 40 countries (76 as of 2022) still endure persecution. Yet, in these places, the church continues to grow vigorously, adding new members with indomitable courage. Persecution has failed to achieve its goal of diminishing the number of Christians; instead, it has only increased the number of believers willing to sacrifice everything for Christ.
Despite this, there are still adversaries roaming the spiritual fields, seeking to devour those desiring to follow Christ. We may view them as giants, or as mere scarecrows with no power.
Will you, as a follower of Jesus, run into the fields to join in the harvest and suffer with Christ?
》Prayer Points
1. The early believers, who were called ”Christians” in the name of Jesus Christ, rejoiced in being considered worthy to suffer disgrace for His name. The Bible teaches that following Jesus will inevitably involve persecution and suffering. Throughout history, in places where the gospel has spread and the church has grown, believers have always faced persecution, fulfilling the words of Scripture. Even in this era, the Lord shows us a world that is ripe for harvest and calls us to follow Him to the cross. Let us, as individuals and as a church, make a commitment to obey this calling and pray together.
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.(Acts 5:41,NIV)
》Scripture Prayer
Read and meditate on the following passage.
| John 17:14-24 (NIV) 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[a] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. |
| Romans 8:17-18 (NIV) 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. |
》Pray that the Word may become the Conclusion.
1. Before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed for His disciples and all future churches. The church, being not of this world, would face hatred and persecution, so Jesus prayed that they would be sanctified by the truth and kept from falling into evil. He also prayed for the church to be united in Christ so that the world might believe that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ. This prayer continues to be answered even after 2,000 years, as the church faces tribulation in the world but becomes sanctified through the Word, bearing witness to the gospel and bringing forth more believers. Let us pray to unite with the persecuted, holy churches, boasting only in the cross, the glory given to Christ from before the foundation of the world, and follow Jesus.
2. The church, the body of the Lord, has always been God’s children and heirs of the Kingdom. Let us give thanks that the church, as co-heirs with Christ, shares in the suffering and the salvation of sinners in the world. As persecution increases in the churches worldwide, with martyrs multiplying, let us praise God, recognizing that the current suffering cannot compare to the glory to be revealed when Jesus Christ returns.
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