The Christianity of a preacher telling stories and jokes is in many cases far from the true spirit of the apostolic early Church. Could you imagine the Apostle Paul cracking joke in the middle of his exhortation to the Ephesians? Or the Apostle Peter giving a heart-warming story to keep the people interested before he closed his epistle.
The atmosphere of local churches has become very far from what has been prescribed in the New Testament. The serious attitude of having an awe inspiring fear of the Lord has dwindled into a small respect for God. Everything holy has been turned into common. The Bible and Church are on our terms now, as men define what to believe and how to act as the Church. That is a far cry from letting God Himself and the Scriptures 100% dictate to us how to be the church.
Martyrdom is a sobering subject. Maybe it will sober us back to the place where the Church needs to be. The martyr spirit is the spirit of New Testament Christianity. We have to recapture a faith that is worth living for and worth dying for in our day. Christ demands our all in His call for discipleship. If we seek to save our life's we will lose it.
The testing to see if we are walking in "true christianity" is coming soon. When we are spoken of as evil and the scum of the earth we will begin to see who will truly stand for our Lord. There will be a frightful dividing of the wheat and the tares. Persecution has a purifying effect on the body of Christ.
There is a time coming soon that we will wish we had heard more messages of this type. More messages on suffering, martyrdom and the cost of discipleship. It is terrible to be unprepared. And that is what most of the evangelical church is today, sorely unprepared. It is God's grace and mercy to give us a warning cry to wake us up and realize the times we are in.
Believe me when I say this, time is coming soon that you would wish that you heard many more messages of this content and type. Time is coming soon that we all wish we would have much more prepared our faith for the things coming on the earth.
The Bible is filled with the testimonies of martyrs. From Genesis chapter 4 where Abel becomes the first martyr. To the end of the book of Revelation where the last of the martyrs are killed for the testimony of Christ. From the beginning to the end of the book, martyrdom not only is keenly present but overwhelmingly obvious to any reader of the Scriptures.
"Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you." (1 John 3:13). The Apostle John gives us this exhortation. It should not surprise or startle us in anyway when we are recipients of the fact that the world hates us. When we are on the receiving end of a slander, blasphemy, avoidance or even an violent act we should not be surprised. This world and all of its inhabitants are scandalized by the Gospel and Christ in us. Our light and righteousness speaks of their condemnation. Daily our lives make manifest the fact that they will be judged by God one day.
Hebrews is not only a hall of faith as many call it but it is also a hall of martyrs. "Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated”” the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground." (Hebrews 11:36-38). This passage along with others should build in us a great sobriety on this subject as we consider those who went on ahead of us in the body of Christ.
Another Passage largely mis-interpreted and overlooked in its context is Romans 8:35-36: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'”
Evangelicals quote this passage to speak of the greatness of God's love and surely God's love is great. But sadly we have mis-read and misinterpreted the true meaning of this passage. Paul speaks in this passage of famines, peril and swords! Shall a sword separate us from the love of Christ? Or rather lets put it into modern vernacular, shall a gun pointed at our head separate us from the love of Christ? The answer of course is, No. Nothing will separate us from the love of Christ even when men torture and martyr us for that noble name they will not be able to touch our souls. We are safe in Christ's love. All that men can do to us is destroy this earthly tent, our body we are living in. This was the Apostle Paul's emphasis and point in this passage. Martyrdom is the secret weapon of the church. No one can take away the victory of Christ love on the cross to purchase men for God.
May God continue to build in us a proper respect for those martyrs that have gone on before us in the Church. And to help us realize that the Christianity of the west needs more sobriety in it, a martyr spirit that will proclaim the Gospel at all costs to its culture around it.