Today, I want us to take a look at some great men and women who gave their lives for the very cause by which we as Christians stand; Jesus Christ!!
What comes to your mind when you see the word, “Suffering?” It’s a word we all want to avoid if possible. Some of us reading this letter have suffered a loss of a loved one; some have suffered to physical illness, but how many people do you know who have suffered for Jesus Christ and have given their life for Him?
A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."
The past century is known as “The martyrs’ century.” More people have lost their lives for their Christianity since 1900 than in all the previous centuries together.
Torture and arrests are becoming part of daily life in the Muslim world. In Saudi Arabia there is a special religious police whose job it is to search private homes and make arrests, confiscating Bibles as well as tapes with religious recordings.
The Muslim world is not the only place where Christians are persecuted. In China many thousands of those who profess Christ live in labor camps. They are imprisoned and tortured simply because they prayed, sang hymns, and read the Bible in public places. Chinese prisons hold more Christians than any other country of the world.
Christians are also persecuted in North Korea, Saudi, Somalia, Yemen, Laos, Nigeria, Cuba, and more and more now in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and even in America.
Most martyrs suffer and die unknown and forgotten. Many of their deaths go unrecorded except in heaven!! Let us thank God and pray for our missionaries who put their lives on the line every day to share the gospel with a lost world!
Warren Wiersbe said, “The Church is always one generation short of extinction. If our generation fails to guard the truth and entrust it to our children, then that will be the end! When you think of the saints and martyrs who suffered and died for what they believed in, it makes you want to take your place in God’s army and be faithful unto death."The Bible is very clear that we as Christians will suffer persecution here on earth but blessed we will be! Our reward isn’t here but in Heaven!
Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
John 15:18-20 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. ...If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you
Below, Is a list of some of the great men that we have come to know through the Bible. They gave their lives for what they believed in. They didn’t just talk Christianity, they lived it!!
Matthew – suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.
Mark – died after being dragged through the streets of Alexandria
Luke – was hanged upon an olive tree in the classic land of Greece
John – was put in a cauldron of boiling oil, but escaped death in a miraculous way and was afterward banished to the isle of Patmos
Peter – was crucified at Rome with his head downward. Tradition says that the Apostle Peter refused to be crucified like Jesus, and was, by his own request, crucified upside down
James the Greater – was beheaded at Jerusalem
James the Less, was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple, and then beaten to death with a fuller’s club
Bartholomew was flayed alive
Andrew was bound to a cross, whence he preached to his persecutors until he died
Thomas was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies.
Jude was shot to death with arrows
Barnabas was stoned to death at Salonica
Paul, after various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the Emperor Nero.
Stephen was stoned to death.
According to the “Fox Book of Martyrs,” there were 10 Great Roman Persecutions in the early century (a result of hatred of any believer in Christ) Many Christians were thrown to hungry lions and bears, while the crowd cheered with delight as they were torn apart.
I want to share with you three particular rulers and two eyewitness accounts of a man and woman who gave their life for what they believed in.
(These accounts were taken from the Fox Book of Martyrs)
Nero , (A.D. 95) had Christians wrapped in robes and dipped into a giant vat of hot wax, then hung on poles in his garden at night and set on fire as living human torches, giving light to his dinner party! Christians were stoned, whipped, and beaten to death with sticks. The apostle John was boiled in oil and then exiled to the island of Patmos
Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161)—made great sport of public executions, stating that Christians desired death in theatrical displays. The cruelties used in this persecution were such that many of the spectators shuddered with horror at the sight of what he did. Here is an eyewitness account of a man named Polycarp.
Polycarp, the venerable bishop of Smyrna, hearing that persons were seeking for him, escaped, but was discovered by a child. After the guards apprehended him, he desired an hour in prayer, which being allowed, he prayed with such fervency, that his guards repented that they had been instrumental in taking him. He was, however, carried before the proconsul, condemned, and burnt in the market place.
The proconsul then urged him, saying, "Swear, and I will release thee;--reproach Christ."
Polycarp answered, "Eighty and six years have I served him, and He never once wronged me; how then shall I blaspheme my King, Who hath saved me?" At the stake to which he was only tied, but not nailed as usual, as he assured them he should stand immovable, the flames, encircled his body, like an arch, without touching him; and the executioner, on seeing this, was ordered to pierce him with a sword, when so great a quantity of blood flowed out as it extinguished the fire.
Septimius Severus (A.D. 193)—Young men were forced to run the gauntlet, and were bashed by their persecutors, then thrown to tigers. Christian women were commonly strung up in nets, naked, before a jeering crowd. They were then removed from the nets and placed in arenas with wild bulls, hungry bears, and wild leopards.
A story is told of a Christian woman during this time named Perpetua. She was 26 and nursing a baby. She showed true devotion to God, exalting Him even above family. She refused to sacrifice to idols and her baby was taken away from her. Perpetua was locked in a dungeon and only allowed an occasional nursing of her child. She was again summoned before the judge and commanded to deny Christ. Her father appeared, holding her baby. He pleaded with her to renounce her faith, and spare her child. She would not. Perpetua was placed in an arena with a gladiator. The gladiator assigned to kill her was a timid young man. He weakly stabbed her a few times with his sword, but failed to kill her. She could tell he was troubled by his assignment to kill a woman, and was having much difficulty…and in pity for the youth, she took his sword in her hand and guided him in finding a vital area of her body.
II Corinthians 12:9-10 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Philippians 1:21 says “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Hundreds of millions of men and women all over the world have given their life to protect our Christian heritage and our freedom we have today to serve the Lord. These men and women had such a passion for what they believed in and it was evident in the life they lived and died!
Many years ago, when communism still held the Soviet Union in its iron clench, a little group of Christians met behind closed doors in the underground. This was a secret meeting, a secret church service.
Suddenly, the doors burst open, and 2 soldiers appeared with sub-machine guns. They shouted, “To all those who are willing to renounce Jesus Christ: You’ve got 5 minutes to leave! Everyone who remains will be shot immediately.”
As you can imagine, every Christian in that place began to search their heart, and ask themselves, am I willing to die for Jesus Christ right now, today?
A few got up and left, ashamedly, quietly, they left with heads hung low. Most of the people stayed. As the last one left, a soldier shouted, is that it? He held up his gun and repeated anyone else? Another man rose and ran out. The soldiers locked the doors, and turned toward the people…
…they laid down their guns…and said, “Brothers and Sisters, we too are Christians. We do not want to worship the Lord with anyone who is not willing to die for Him! Now that the half-hearted have gone, let’s have church!” What a service they had together that day!
We need to ask ourselves, what if those soldiers came into our homes or churches right now…would we stay, or would we leave?
As I put this letter together, I had to do some serious soul-searching myself and I hope I would be faithful in the face of persecution. I don’t believe any of us can know what we would do in that moment, though we hope we would stand for our Savior.
Many Christians have denied Christ under pressure, like the Apostle Peter. He denied Christ three times but later repented and took his stand for many years before becoming a martyr himself…faithful even unto death!
Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego stood for what they believed in and they knew that their God would go with them, even into the fiery furnace, and He did! So, we as Christians, no matter what we face can rest assured that God will go with us too, even in the worst circumstances, He will be there!!
Psalms 23:4 says, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me" Praise the Lord!!!
Psalms 46 says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Be still and know that I am God!"
In closing, I want to leave you with something to think about;
“If your faith won’t bring you to God’s house regularly, it is highly unlikely it would take you to the gas chamber, if called upon.
A faith that doesnt bring words of witness to your lips in our land of free speech, you would not likely go to a burning stake to be a public testimony for Christ
If your faith can’t get the 10% our Lord requires out of your pocket, I doubt if it would get you to the chopping block!
If your faith can’t keep you away from all the things the world has to offer or can’t keep you from fleshly habits, it’s not likely it would take you to the lions’ den
A faith that doesn’t prompt you to obey in the smallest of matters like reading your Bible and prayer, wouldn’t bring you before a firing squad.
Hebrews 11:6 says, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.Today we live in a country where we have religious freedoms, but there may come a day when those freedoms are taken away.
Now is the time to stand up for Jesus Christ! We don't know what tomorrow holds for us but one thing is for sure, we know who holds tomorrow!!!
Let us do some serious soul-searching and ask God to strengthen our faith like never before. May He instill in us an "unshakeable" faith that will withstand any persecution and trials that come our way.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Encouraged in Heart. . . United in Love
Jenny
II Timothy 1:12
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