Amen.
All right, do you this morning feel like a soldier? I hope so. I hope so.
Last week I gave a preparatory message concerning the fifth seal. It happened to be Memorial Day weekend, and under the fifth seal what you see are the martyrs who gave their lives in service to the King, our Lord Jesus Christ. They gave up their lives because they would not deny the name of Jesus, and they are memorialized. The Lord Jesus points this out very clearly. One whole seal is dedicated to these martyrs under the altar—soldiers who gave up their lives in service to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, we are so grateful today that we do not have to be caught up so much with the things on earth. But it is absolutely necessary that we be caught up with the things concerning the kingdom of heaven.
Lord Jesus, this great battle of the ages, into which we have been called as soldiers this morning, I just pray that You will, through the Holy Spirit, give us Your burden. Help us, Lord, to see as You see things. Lord, challenge us to be faithful to the end. Challenge us to be willing to give up our lives in the service of Jesus Christ.
Lord, now bless us. The flesh resists these kinds of things; it rejects the cross. Lord, we stand on Your side this morning, declaring that the cross is the power of God; that, Lord Jesus, You are able to transform lives and make us soldiers in Your army, those who can serve in Your kingdom.
Lord, we worship You this morning. We ask You to open the eyes of our hearts to what You have to say to us, under the anointing, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, last week I did point out how numerous times in the Word of God those who were faithful to Him are remembered. I pointed out those who returned to Jerusalem three times to rebuild the temple, the city, and the wall. Three times He acknowledges those who gave up their life of ease, basically in Babylon, to return and build the testimony of Christ.
Brothers and sisters, they went through tremendous issues and problems. The battle of the ages is against the testimony of Christ. I shared how it began back in eternity past when Satan, then called Lucifer, the highest archangel, looked at himself and said, “I am so full of gift and glory. I should be the one occupying the place of Christ.”
God, knowing this, put him out of His presence—cast him out. A third of the angels went with him in rebellion, and that spirit seems to occupy this world today, brothers and sisters.
We know that when God raised up Adam to be that vessel, to stand for the testimony of God on this earth, he faltered. He failed. The enemy immediately challenged the testimony of Jesus. He would not have anyone eating of the tree of life.
It seemed as if he had won, but praise the Lord, the Lord Himself, the second Man, came down on this earth. He is the tree of life, of which we have partaken, and we now have that eternal life in Him.
Oh, it seemed at Calvary also that the enemy had finally stopped Christ, but He rose from the dead. He overcame the grave. He overcame Satan. Brothers and sisters, praise the Lord, the victory truly has been won.
So why are we called soldiers? Because this victory has been won in Jesus Christ, and that victory needs to be worked out on this earth among men and throughout this universe. That is what we have been called to do: as soldiers, to stand in that victory.
Now, when our Lord Jesus Christ, before He went to the cross, told His disciples—we read this in our Bible study this week, in Matthew 16; we may be a little slow compared to some of the others—He said, “I am going to Jerusalem, and I will be tried for heresy. I will be hung on the cross and crucified, but I will rise on the third day.”
And He did. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. That is why we are here today. He did secure the victory, but now He wants us to take that victory and apply it in our lives, personally and corporately, in this universe, that He may gain back the inheritance that is rightfully His.
The nations are His inheritance. The Jews are His inheritance. The church is His inheritance. When we open the book of Revelation, we see Him opening these seals, and the end result will be that He will gain His inheritance. He will have His church as His bride in fullness. The Jewish nation will return to Him as a testimony—a nation of testimony on this earth—and He will reign and rule over the nations.
Praise the Lord. This is what we are part of when we are called as Christians into the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord also, before He went to the cross, warned His disciples. He said, “You have been called to follow Me, but they are going to kill Me, and they will kill you if you carry My name. You will be imprisoned. You will be jailed. You will be ridiculed. You will be spat upon. You will be challenged in your faith.”
“Do not be surprised,” He said. Last week I shared that, though we have had great grace in this nation for many hundreds of years, we now see persecution coming upon the Christian world. We see it happening.
You know, it is interesting, brothers and sisters. The Pledge of Allegiance originally read: “I pledge allegiance to the flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Now, what is missing? “Under God.”
Do you realize that “under God” was not put into the pledge until 1954? It was actually written by a socialist. What happened in 1954? Communism was on the rise, like Islam is today. It seemed to be an unstoppable power that was taking over the whole world.
President Eisenhower went to Congress in view of what was happening in the events of that day, and he said, “Let us put in our pledge, ‘one nation under God.’” That was in 1954. Under the seeming pressures of communism, some awoke in this nation and realized, “Communism is atheist. It is anti-God. This nation needs to stand for God, and we are going to put it in our pledge.”
It now reads, “One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” But, brothers and sisters, a lot has changed. Our government is now doing the best it can, through Supreme Court rulings, to keep the name of God out of everything in our history and everything in our current society. Anything that even touches the government, they say, cannot use the name of God.
A young man recently was to give the speech to his high school graduation class. He wanted to say a prayer, and they said, “No, you cannot say a prayer.” He went to the principal, and the principal said, “Son, I want you to know I pray for you and all the children every day. I support you, but I cannot tell you that you can pray.”
So the young man went before them, and at the end of his speech he said, “Lord, I do pray Your mercies upon us, that You will keep us, and that You will reign and rule in our lives.” The crowd came to their feet and applauded.
When he was challenged for doing that, he said, “Look, I know that the high school cannot tell me that I must go up and say a prayer. But I do not think they can stop me personally from praying, and that is what I did.”
I am just saying that little story to indicate the pressures that are now coming upon life in the United States for Christians. We see the attitude coming. Where did that attitude come from?
Last week—I will probably get through this review shortly—I said it is so clear. I would like you young people to read Romans 1. It is so very clear. It says men knew God but did not want God in their lives. It says God turned them over to a darkened mind. Their minds became darkened because they rejected God.
It says they thought they were becoming wise, but they were foolish. Their darkened minds proceeded to bring them into perversions—evil perversions that are now being called good. Homosexuality. Marriage of man to man and woman to woman. These have become the perversions of the age, and it is all because of darkened minds, no matter how intelligent. Darkness comes.
I want you young people to really know that when you back off from God, the light from God in your mind dims. Your mind becomes dark. Your mind becomes enlightened to the things of the world, but darkened to the things of God.
In John 1, the Gospel says that in Christ is life. In Him is life, and He is the light of men that lights the soul of every man. But when we reject God in our lives, that light dims, brothers and sisters, and darkness takes its place.
Do you know the definition of darkness? It is the absence of light. Darkness in itself is no reality; it is the absence of light. So it is so critical today that in our lives personally, we do not draw away from Christ. Otherwise, our minds too will become darkened and begin to take on the ideology of this world and this government.
The pledge says, “with liberty and justice for all.” But unfortunately, brothers and sisters, liberty is going to become for the elite and those in power, and justice is going to be replaced with oppression.
I say this because I am not trying to alarm anyone. I want us to awaken to the times in which we live. We are coming to the end. That is the good news. We are coming to the end, and that is what this book of Revelation is about. It shows us the end days and the preparation for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to set His kingdom up on this earth.
That is why the Lord Jesus encouraged the saints. He said, “When you see these things happening, look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.” On the one hand, we may get very discouraged at what we see, but on the other hand, we are told to look up, for our redemption draweth nigh.
As I have been reading particularly in this book of Revelation, I know there are many different interpretations concerning the Lord’s return—pre- and post-tribulation, and these kinds of things. But one thing I can tell you for sure: perhaps the reason the Lord has these Scriptures in such a way that people can have different interpretations is that He does not want us to know the exact time.
What He wants us to know is that we need to be ready. That is what He wants us to know: that we might be ready. Brothers and sisters, that is the key in the book of Revelation. We are looking for Him, and we need to be ready for Him. That is what the whole book is about.
Well, I am going to have to be fast today. Let us read Acts 6:8-12. This is the first martyr mentioned in the Bible—or the first New Testament martyr mentioned by name.
And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great wonders and signs among the people.
But there arose certain of them that were of the synagogue called the synagogue of the Libertines, and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen.
And they were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spake.
Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and seized him, and brought him into the council,
And set up false witnesses, who said, This man ceaseth not to speak words against this holy place, and the law:
For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us.
And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
Now let us read Acts 7:1-2.
And the high priest said, Are these things so?
And he said, Brethren and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.
Now let us go to Acts 7:51-60. This is the way Stephen ends his testimony. He gives the whole history of the testimony of God in the nation of Israel, and he says:
Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
Ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.
Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;
And they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Our brother Stephen carried the testimony of Jesus. You carry the testimony of Jesus. You are responsible. When I talk about the testimony of Jesus, I am not talking about sharing your knowledge of Jesus. I am talking about sharing the life of Jesus. Do you understand?
Life comes through experience—experience of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, that is when testimony is real. It is based on reality, not on somebody else’s life, but yours and what you have experienced of the Lord.
His testimony was so strong and powerful that when he began to charge these people, “Look, you have killed the Messiah. He came to you, but you put Him away. You rejected Him,” his testimony was so powerful. As he began to stand before this council, it said his face glowed.
Now, occasionally, brothers and sisters, you notice this on some of the older saints. You will see a glow—that Christian glow—on their face. It is as if the glory of God is shining through. Well, it said Stephen’s face glowed like an angel.
He gives the history of the nation of Israel as a testimony to God. They were to be His testimony. He says, “But you have ended the Messiah’s life. You have betrayed Him, and you have murdered Him.” Oh, they became so angry. It was the truth, but the truth did not set them free.
You know, that is the way the truth is. When the Lord speaks to you, you will either accept it, and it will set you free, or you can reject it, and it will condemn you. That is what we see here. They could not stand it. They covered their ears from hearing his words, and they rushed upon him. It says with their teeth they were tearing him.
But praise the Lord, our brother is standing there with all this angry mob around him, tearing at him. What does he do? He looks up. He looks up. And what does he see? He sees the heavens open, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Oh, brothers and sisters, the crowd could not see it, but they could see in his face that he was seeing something. I guarantee you that. And what was he saying? “Jesus standing.”
Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to understand about this martyr Stephen. He was being martyred, and when he looked up, heaven opened and he saw what was going on in heaven. What was going on was that our Lord Jesus Christ was standing.
You know, He is seated at the right hand of God and administers all the affairs of heaven. But, brothers and sisters, when He sees His martyr Stephen being martyred, He stands up. He takes notice. “They are killing My testimony on earth.” He takes notice of this one who is being stoned.
And he cries out, “I see, I see.” Is that not what it takes in your Christian life, in my Christian life? Is it not based on reality? Is it not based on seeing the Lord Jesus Christ?
There are a few times in our lives when it is as if we actually see Him. Here it occurs with Stephen. But his testimony is, “I see, I see.” Is that your testimony? “I have seen Him. I have seen Him. I see the Lord Jesus Christ, and I can testify He is real.”
“I can testify He is the Son of God. I can testify that He came on this earth as a man and died as a man in your place, that you might be saved from the tragic thing that you are and brought into a new creation and a new reality in Christ. I see. I see.”
But they stopped their ears. They closed their eyes. They threw him out of the city and stoned him.
In our eyes, we see another tragedy: a good man, a Christian man, strong in the Lord, stoned to death. But our eyes are not opened as the Lord’s are. Our brother did not die in vain. The church was greatly strengthened through his testimony and the giving up of his life.
Interestingly enough, it was Saul who had gone after Stephen. He was the one with the papers to throw people in prison and have them executed. He was standing there. He was watching all of this. He saw the glow on this man’s face.
Now Saul, at this time, what was his problem? He was all out for God. He thought he was serving God. He had all these traditions he was following, but he did not know Him. His mind was darkened, brothers and sisters, because he had not yet known the reality of God in his life, even though that was Whom he was trying to pursue.
But God had mercy on this man. This incident, I am so convinced, is what convicted Saul—so full of anger, so full of hatred. Many saints had been thrown in prison because of him.
The Lord met him on the Damascus road, and he fell to his knees. “Who are You, Lord?” He called Him Lord immediately. “I am the One Whom you are persecuting, Saul. You think you are throwing My followers into prison. You think you are killing My followers. You are trying to kill Me.”
“It is Me. They are just My body on this earth. I am the Head. I am in heaven. You touch My body, you touch Me.” Brothers and sisters, Saul, full of zeal, becomes Paul. He is a new man, a different man.
Think about how much we have benefited from Paul’s ministry—this one who went from darkness and depravity into the light of the glory of God. His whole ministry and life was a testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ.
How the enemy tried to crush him. He said he was pressed out of measure, even unto death. He speaks of being beaten, of shipwreck, of being stoned—all of these things. He was a living martyr, was he not? He was a living sacrifice.
He was put into prison. At the time, I would imagine some of the saints were thinking, “Lord, this man we so need is in prison.” But that is where he wrote the prison letters—Galatians and Philippians, brothers and sisters—which mean so much to us in the church today.
God knows what He is doing. He allowed this man to be put into prison. He was a living sacrifice for God. He was a living martyr for God.
Now, last week I said, what does the word martyr mean? Witness. Martyr means witness, and that is exactly what he was—willing to give up his life. He was a living sacrifice, but he too was martyred. He was beheaded. Because he was Roman, they gave him a quick death.
A second-century author wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” These have maintained the testimony of Christ. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.
I think of the other apostles. Matthew, the tax collector, was run through with a sword. Luke was hanged. Philip was crucified. James, the Lord’s brother, was thrown from the top of the temple—one hundred feet, it says. He survived it, and then they beat him to death.
Mark was killed by being dragged by horses. John was not martyred in that way. They tried to kill him; they put him in burning oil, it says, but somehow he survived. Then he ended up going to Patmos as a prisoner and dying as an old man.
Nathanael was beaten to death with whips. James, the brother of John, was beheaded. Thomas was stabbed with a spear. Jude, the brother of Jesus, was killed with arrows. Bartholomew was beheaded. Simon was crucified. James, the son of Alphaeus, was clubbed to death.
Peter was crucified upside down because he did not want the honor of being crucified in the same position as the Lord Jesus. Andrew also was crucified, on an X-shaped cross rather than an upright one.
The Book of Martyrs reports that when Andrew was sentenced, he said, “I would not have preached the honor and glory of the cross if I had feared the death of the cross.” He said, “I would not have preached the glory and honor of the cross if I was unwilling to die on that cross.”
It says that when they put him there, he remained alive for two days and preached nothing but Christ for two days. These are the ones closest to our Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, do you not see what is happening? The enemy could not crush Christ, but did he ever go after His followers. All of these were martyrs in the name of Jesus Christ.
It was not just a few years of persecution. For the next four hundred years, the saints were persecuted. Ignatius, at the end of the first century, was a leader in the church in Antioch. Peter had been there. Ignatius was sentenced to death, to be eaten by lions.
He wrote to those in the church in Rome, because that is where they were going to take him: “Do not use any means to deliver me or deprive me of my martyrdom. Let fire and the cross, let wild beasts be upon me, breaking my bones, and all the malice of the devil come upon me. Be it so, only that I might win Christ.”
Polycarp was an old man. They brought him into the stadium to burn him. He responded, “Eighty-six years I have served the Lord, and He never once wronged me. How then shall I blaspheme my King Who has saved me?”
When they were about to chain him to the post, he said, “There is no need. He Who gives me the strength to sustain the fire will enable me also to remain here without flinching.” What faith. Do you not think these men had seen God? I think they had seen Christ in such a powerful way that they were willingly ready to give up their lives in martyrdom to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As they lit the fire on Polycarp, he said, “Father, I bless You. You have counted me worthy to receive my portion among the martyrs.” When they lit the fire, it burned in an arch around him. It was not burning him.
They were so incensed that they then speared him with swords. It says the blood was so profuse, it actually put out the fire. When he died, they built another fire and finally burned him. But that was our brother Polycarp.
Brothers and sisters, during these persecutions, tens of thousands were burned, crucified, and fed to lions. They continued for four hundred years, until the fourth century and Constantine.
The tyrants and organs of Satan, the vessels of Satan, were not content merely to take life from the body. The kinds of death were many and horrible. Whatever the cruelty of man’s invention could devise for the punishment of man’s body was practiced against the Christians: stripes, scourgings, drawings, tearing, stonings, plates of iron laid upon them burning hot, deep dungeons, racks, stranglings, wild beasts, gridirons, and gallows.
Moreover, when they were killed, their bodies were laid in heaps, with dogs to guard them and keep others from burying them. Nor would any be allowed to pray for them. Yet, notwithstanding all these continual persecutions and horrible punishments, the church daily increased, deeply rooted in the doctrine of the apostles and watered plenteously with the blood of the saints.
In the fourth century, Constantine overthrew the powers and became the leader. He was the one, you remember, who went into battle with a vision of the cross and won. At that time, he began to pay people to come and join the church—to be Christians and to be baptized. They could get clothing and food.
Unfortunately, the world then became the great enemy of the church. It entered into the Dark Ages, and the Roman Church came into power during this time. They came up with many traditions and had idols that they worshiped.
They spoke of Christ, but they really had all their idols. They said the pope was infallible. They had indulgences for sins instead of the blood of Christ. In other words, you could buy your way into heaven. You could buy forgiveness for your sins. They were making tons of money.
But brothers and sisters, in the eighth century, the Lord began to raise up a group called the Paulicians. They had seen Paul’s writings, took them up, and began to see the errors that were being preached at that time: that the pope was certainly not the head of the church—Christ was; that our sins are not taken care of by indulgences, but by the blood of Christ.
They maintained the testimony of Christ and the Word of God, and the enemy came upon them. The emperor went after them. By the ninth century, it is said that in a hundred-year period, one hundred thousand Paulicians had been martyred. Their land and property were taken, and they were nearly obliterated, with only a few remaining who escaped to other countries.
In France there were the Waldensians. They were called the people of the Book. They too saw the horrors being propagated in the church—the lies and untruths, the failure to stick to the Word of God. They believed in the Word of God, and they too were persecuted from the eleventh century to the seventeenth century.
For six hundred years, the Waldensians were under persecution. In 1655, in what is called the Piedmont Easter, some had escaped into the Piedmont mountains. The emperor put out an edict to destroy them from the face of the earth, and they went after them.
Not only did they kill them, but they did horrible things. I do not know if I should even mention them, but they would tear them apart, even the children. They did anything humanly possible to kill these people and mutilate them.
Also in that time period were the Huguenots. Huguenot Road—where we are—is a memorial to them. They were persecuted in France. On August 24, 1572, fifty thousand Huguenots were slaughtered.
Some of them, to escape persecution, came to the United States. They were given ten thousand acres in Manakin, Virginia, about fifteen miles up the river. They settled that area and were well known, welcomed, and loved. Of course, they spread out into Chesterfield County. Huguenot Road and the bridge were built as memorials to the Huguenots.
We do have some history. Thank the Lord for these ones who gave their lives.
Then, with the printing press, Christianity was revolutionized because, for the first time, the Word could be printed in mass and get out to the people. Before, only a few special bishops had a Bible. Now it was getting into the people’s hands.
Tyndale was the one who translated the Bible into English. Brothers and sisters, our brother Tyndale, because of the printing press, was able to get out thousands of Bibles. We owe a lot to Tyndale.
He ended up giving his life under the hand of Henry VIII. He was strangled and burned. He lived a long time, but they finally caught up with him and strangled and burned him.
You young people remember Henry VIII? We always knew him in history class as the one who had six wives: “Beheaded, divorced, survived; beheaded, divorced, died.” That was his six wives. That is how I remember him. But, brothers and sisters, he went after Tyndale and got him. Tyndale was martyred.
We owe so much to this man, and to Wycliffe and the Reformers. The Lollards followed John Wycliffe’s teachings and stood against the pope. They were very vocal, and they said the pope was actually the antichrist. They went after all the heresies in the Roman Church. They would not abide the indulgences and idolatry, and they were persecuted and had to go underground.
Brothers and sisters, this multitude under the altar—perhaps I should read it before I go on—is found in Revelation 6:9.
And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held.
Brothers and sisters, this multitude under the altar is not just a few thousand. Their numbers can be measured in millions. The Center for Global Christianity did a detailed study. There are all kinds of different thoughts as to how many martyrs have died for the sake of Christ, and the numbers vary, of course, but this study was very serious and deep.
It said that by the year 2000, there had been seventy million Christians martyred. They are defined as believers in Christ who were killed as witnesses, ascribed to them by those who killed them. In other words, those who killed them said, “They are Christians. That is why we are killing them. They are standing for the Word of the Lord.”
Today, it is estimated that each year one hundred thousand Christians are killed and martyred.
I think it is interesting in Revelation 6:10.
And they cried with a great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
When Stephen was martyred, he said, “Lord, forgive them.” That was the word of the martyrs in the early days. But their prayers here have changed: “Lord, how long? All these centuries, Lord, how long before You avenge our blood?”
In the next seal we see overcomers. What is the cry of the overcomer? What is the true cry of the overcomer, my brothers and sisters? “Come, Lord Jesus.”
You have these two cries at the end of the age from the prayers of the saints. The martyrs are saying, “Lord, how long before You avenge us?” The overcomers are saying, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
I thought maybe the saints were trying to get through to us: “Hey, how long? Come, Lord Jesus.” That is what I want to awaken us to. These are the cries of the last day: “How long, Lord? Come, Lord Jesus.”
Brothers and sisters, I am going to try to wrap this up. These martyrs gave their lives because they held the testimony of Jesus, and that is our life as well. They believed His Word. We talked about that this morning—believing His Word.
They died because they believed His Word. Brothers and sisters, when they were challenged, they could not deny Him. Now, when you get challenged—and you will; I am pretty sure you will be challenged—will you deny Him?
I was talking to a young woman in our office. I do not know how we got on the subject of abortion. She said, “I know how you feel about it.” She knew I was a Christian. She said, “But really, women just cannot give up their right to abortion. They just cannot.”
I said, “But there are other ways not to have children.” She said, “I know, but sometimes they fail.” What right is there to take the life of a child? “Well, the woman needs to retain that right.”
Brothers and sisters, you can demand all the rights you want in your life. God has called Christians to give up their rights. That is why we are called living sacrifices. We give up our rights to serve Him, to serve His ways, to stand true to Him.
Do you see the darkened mind upon this young lady? She was very sincere. But when these unwanted children come into the world, she thought of how many millions of dollars would have to be spent to support them. Darkened.
I want to tell you something: God has a purpose for every life. Some of these lives are being cut short. God have mercy.
Anyway, I did not want to get on that too much, just to say, oh, how our minds have become dark. May we come back into the light of Christ. May we be a true testimony to Him in life.
Brothers and sisters, we need to stay close to the Lord. We need His light in our life every day, to keep that light burning bright and to keep the darkness out. Remember, darkness is the absence of light.
We need to be willing to give up our lives for the sake of Christ. Richard Wurmbrand was a survivor of communist persecution. I do not know how many millions of Christians were killed by the communists simply because they were Christians.
But he resisted them and lived through it. He said, “What a person really believes is not what he says, or what his creed is, but what he is willing to die for.” He said, “That is what belief is. If you really believe, it is what you are willing to die for.”
We have been challenged to become living sacrifices in Romans 12:1. If we live that life every day, if we come to the place of being martyred in death, it will be just another step, brothers and sisters.
So much is about to occur. So much is coming. I want us to be ready. I do not want us to be downtrodden about the negative things. I want us to look up, like Stephen did, and see the Lord standing on your behalf.
We must be willing to deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him.
Hebrews 11 says Abraham sojourned as a sojourner in the land of promise—a stranger in the country, a tent dweller. Brothers and sisters, the world wants us to become settlers, but a Christian like Abraham is a sojourner here.
I hope you begin to see that the world we live in is not really home. It is getting stranger and stranger to me every day. It does not appear to be home for me. Tent dwellers—that is what we are.
But I wanted to point out Hebrews 11:36-40. These heroes of the faith:
And others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:
They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, they were slain with the sword:
They went about in sheepskins, in goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated
(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.
And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise,
God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
To the world, the Christian is worthless. To the world, you need to know this, you are a hindrance to them. But I love the Lord’s words here: “Of whom the world was not worthy.”
They carried the testimony of Jesus, but that testimony is not yet full. It requires the testimony in you and me for that fullness. They are our brethren, brothers and sisters. They are our heritage. They are our brothers and sisters, and they are not complete without us.
We have been called to be living sacrifices and martyrs for our Lord Jesus Christ.
It goes on to say in Hebrews 12:1:
Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Martyrs—those who have died for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—we are surrounded by them. Brothers and sisters, today I hope you hear their voices saying, “Christ is worth it. Christ is worth your life. Do not give up. Do not yield. Do not step back. Be faithful to the end. Endure. Give up everything. Give up all of your rights for the sake of Christ.”
Those surrounding us are trying to encourage us: endure the race till the end. The Lord is at the end of the finish line, brothers and sisters. He is waiting for us, and we need to be faithful.
I would call us this morning—it is on my heart—to become one with these witnesses, with these under the altar in the fifth seal; to join with them as living sacrifices to our Lord Jesus Christ.
Brother Nee said:
Christ is not increased in me according to how much spiritual knowledge I have, but according to how far and how deep is my consecration to Him.
The measure of my putting myself in God’s hands will be the measure of Christ being preeminent in all things in my life.
It does not depend on spiritual knowledge, but on how far and how deep is my consecration.
Lord, we just come back to You today. We thank You that in this book of Revelation You have pointed out these martyrs to us, these ones who have been faithful to the testimony of Jesus.
Lord, I am so thankful for the picture we have of You standing there, observing Stephen as he was martyred in Your name, and the many others. Lord, we thank You for Your great concern for our lives.
Today, Lord, I thank You that You are wanting to challenge us to become joined with these ones who were witnesses in testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, that means we have got to be committed to You and to one another.
Lord, we need to consecrate ourselves unto You as living sacrifices. Lord, by Your grace, may it be so. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.