MARTYDOM
After the
respite, the Christians again came under persecution, this time from Marcus
Aurelius, in A.D. 61. One of those who suffered this time was Polycarp, the
venerable bishop pf Smyrna... As he entered the
stadium with his guards, a voice from heaven was heard to say, "Be strong,
Polycarp, and play the man." No one nearby saw anyone speaking but many
people heard the voice. Brought before the tribunal and the crowd, Polycarp
refused to deny Christ, although the proconsul begged him to "consider
yourself and have pity on your great age. Reproach Christ and I will release
you." Polycarp replied, "Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He
never once wronged me. How can I blaspheme my King, who saved me?"
Threatened with wild beasts and fire, Polycarp stood his ground.
From Foxe’s Christian Martyrs, published by
Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, OH.
Page 11. Used by permission.
If there be
glory laid up for them that die in the Lord; much more shall they be glorified
that die for the Lord.
Richard Baker
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 53.
Authentic,
biblical Christianity has always been an exclusive religion. This became
apparent during the Roman Empire. When the Emperor Alexander Severus heard
about Christianity, he placed an image of Christ beside the other gods in his
private chapel, just to be safe. The Romans were happy to welcome Jesus into
their pantheon. What the Romans couldn’t understand was why Christians refused
to reciprocate. If the emperor was willing to worship Christ, why weren’t
Christians willing to worship the emperor? Yet the early Christians insisted
that in order to worship Christ at all, they had to worship Christ alone.
They were even willing to stand up for this conviction by playing “Christians
and lions” at the Colosseum.
Philip Graham Ryken
Is Jesus the Only Way? Crossway, 1999, p.
10-11.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church
Tertullian
We do not
know the value of Christ, if we will not cleave to Him unto death!
Robert Murray McCheyne
Comfort in Sorrow, Christian Focus, 2002, p.
67, Used by Permission.
Never did the
church so much prosper and so truly thrive as when she was baptized in the
blood. The ship of the church never sails so gloriously along as when the
bloody spray of her martyrs falls on her deck. We must suffer and we must die,
if we are ever to conquer this world for Christ.
C.H. Spurgeon
6.154.
A
Christian Martyr is one who:
Chooses to suffer death rather than to deny Christ, or His work…Sacrifices
something very important to further the Kingdom of God…Endures great suffering
for Christian Witness.
The Voice of the Martyrs
Evangelical Press Association; August, 1998,
p. 11.
It is not the
pain but the purpose that makes a martyr.
No one makes
us afraid or leads us into captivity as we have set our faith on Jesus. For
though we are beheaded, and crucified, and exposed to beasts and chains and fire
and all other forms of torture, it is plain that we do not forsake the
confession of our faith, but the more things of this kind which happen to us
the more are there others who become believers and truly religious through the
name of Jesus.
So many
Christians sealed their witness to Christ with their blood that martures (witness) came to mean “martyrs.” Their
blood, as the second-century theologian Tertullian stated, became the seed of
the church. Many were drawn to faith in Christ by observing how calmly and joyously
Christians met their deaths.
John MacArthur
MacArthur Commentary Series: Acts, Moody,
1994, p. 21.
The problem
with Christians is nobody wants to kill them anymore.
Matthew
suffered martyrdom by being slain with a sword at a distant city of Ethiopia.
Mark expired
at Alexandria, after being cruelly dragged through the streets of that city.
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 manner, and was
afterward banished to Patmos.
Peter was
crucified at Rome with his head downward.
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.
Matthias was
first stoned and then beheaded.
Barnabas of
the Gentiles was stoned to death at Salonica.
Paul, after
various tortures and persecutions, was at length beheaded at Rome by the
Emperor Nero.
The Death of the Apostles,
Source Unknown.