Martyrdom: The Ultimate Witness of Faith

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I've had martyrdom on my heart. You go, well, Pastor Steve, Charlie Kirk got killed. I know that. I think that's what sparked it, really. And I'm trying to think of the last time I taught on martyrs. I have before, but not in a long time. How many of you know, if you were part of the church from the Beginning up until, wow, probably 400 AD, martyrdom was a regular thing. I bet you you would have known a martyr. You could have had lots of your leaders martyred. You could have had a family member martyred. It was a. I hate to say normal because it's. That isn't even the right word. But most Christians back in that time period and really throughout history, they've had to live a persecuted life, and martyrdom was something that was familiar to them. [00:00:03]

There's a gigantic crown. I think probably the highest crown a person could receive is a martyr's crown. The crown of life, a martyr's crown. Can you give any more than your life for the gospel? What more can you give? I mean, I don't think you could give much more than that, than your very own life for the Gospel. And there's nothing that would testify how much you love Jesus than laying your life down physically for the gospel's sake. [00:01:01]

If you get this, what you're going to notice throughout the martyrdom after martyrdom after martyrdom is God Poured gigantic grace upon a person as they're being martyred. What about Stephen? Think about Stephen. Now, Stephen stands up and he preaches right in the midst of people and leaders, religious leaders, who had just crucified his Lord. He knew that what he was being given to say by the Spirit of God was not going to go over well. But he knew it was truth. He knew that God, right at that moment, wanted him to be his mouthpiece. [00:02:35]

And yet, for the love of his Lord Jesus, he did not be quiet. He would not be quiet. He opened his mouth and he trusted the Holy Spirit to give him the right words, which I think he remembered. He was taught that. Jesus taught us that. Amen. Mark 13:11. Don't worry about what you will say in your defense. Just say what God tells you to. Then it's not you who will be speaking, but the Holy Spirit. That. That's a good thing to follow every day of your life, isn't it? [00:03:36]

Sometimes you'll say something prophetically, and you don't even know you're saying it prophetically. You'll say something that maybe they were thinking about that that very morning, and you'll start talking about a subject. Who's giving you that to say, it's the Holy Spirit who's speaking through you. He does this through each and every one of us. We are his witnesses. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [00:04:20]

But as these stones are hitting him and knocking chunks of flesh off him, fracturing his eye orbits, knocking his teeth out, he's seeing Jesus at the right hand of God. And he says it, he says, behold, I see Jesus, the son of man. He's standing at the right hand of the Father. That just made those guys matter. But what an honor to be the first martyr after the birth of the new church, after Jesus was raised from the dead. [00:05:55]

So come on now, we're all going to go to heaven someday, and that's eternal. It's. You can't even compare our little, little time that we spend here on the earth to the eternity we're going to have in heaven. Hallelujah. [00:08:29]

Yes, the old statement is true. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. And the church multiplied greatly, greatly, greatly again after the death of the first martyr, Stephen. So, yea, God, I know we don't talk about martyr much. [00:09:08]

How many of you know the martyrdom of Stephen broke through and reached probably the greatest missionary that's ever lived, the Apostle Paul. Come on now. [00:10:19]

She was a new mother, had a nursing infant, and all she had to do was say, my allegiance is not to Jesus. My allegiance is to Rome, and my allegiance is to Caesar. There is no other king but Caesar. And you know what she said? I am who I am. I'm a follower of Christ, and there is no other king but Jesus. And that would save her life. That would let her raise her new little baby. And she said, I am who I am. I can't be someone else. [00:12:33]

And she said, as I drew near to the Lord, like Ari said, put my forehead on God's forehead. My prison cell became like a holy sanctuary. God's presence filled my prison cell all the time. Hallelujah. [00:13:29]

And they told these two young mothers, we will do this. Worry about your children. They're ours. We will raise them as ours. Come on, guys. This is the way things were back then. [00:14:19]

And I think the crowd is seeing how noble Christian women give their lives to the Lord. So they assigned this gladiator, a male, to go in and just sword him to death. And he does Felicity, which really put her out of her misery. And then it says when he looked into the face of Perpetua, he kind of, like, froze and started to shake. Guess who he's seeing there. Guess what he's seeing there. What so many saw on the face of those who were martyred. [00:15:42]

He looks at her, he sees Jesus on her. He sees the glory of God on her face. And it was like he could not thrust his sword. Guess what Perpetua did. It's in Fox's Book of Martyrs. She took the blade and placed it right here so it would be easier for him. Because she knew he's going to be. He's probably going to be killed if he doesn't fulfill his duty. And she went out gloriously, a martyr for her Lord, whom she loved. [00:16:34]

So here we go. They decide we're going to burn him to death. Burn him at the stake in the public square. Now, if you've been to Scotland as many times as I've been, you better take your raincoat and umbrella. And when it rains all the time, guess how the wood is wet. So they call them faggots. They're just sticks of wood. They fasten him to the stake, put the wood around him. The wood's too wet. They can't get the wood to stay lit. So they cover it with gunpowder. And the account says they even covered him with gunpowder and put it under his armpits. And they're going to, one way or another, they're going to light him. It's a slow death because the wood is wet. And they said the whole time with him, he's praying for his persecutors. He's forgiving them. Everyone is witnessing that and their hearts are being convicted. And he finally dies and is martyred. [00:19:11]

Now it spread all over Scotland, news of Patrick Hamilton and Patrick Hamilton's message. Guess who rose up out of that group to be what we know as the. As the greatest Scottish reformer. Guess who was seed of that? Yeah. John Knox. John Knox. We've been many times. You guys have been to Scotland. You've been in St. Giles Cathedral. That's where John Knox, man, he thundered and preached and preached the gospel that was seed from the martyr. Scotland turned and they had a great revival. Scotland's had many revivals. They need another revival. God can do anything. Amen. [00:20:23]

So the only thing that's going to save them now is revival. God is the God of revival. Amen. And I want to say this, too. The Scottish people have not been speaking up. Why say people, Christians, church people, if it goes down the toilet, they will be held accountable. [00:21:38]

So in the last 15 years, guess who's doing all this? Islam. 18,000 Christian churches burned. 18,000. That's a lot. I have read accounts. The high end, 500,000 Nigerian Christians martyred for their faith. The low end, 125,000. Either way, take higher, lower, anything in between. That's a lot of martyrs, isn't it? That's a lot of martyrs. So it's happening today? It's happening today. [00:24:05]

That's why I say, when people say, you know, do you get persecuted when you preach the gospel in Boulder? I'm going, not really. I mean, not really. We don't really do. With Keith, I've had people cuss me out. Oh, big deal. Throw beer on me, big deal. Spit, big deal. Throw lit matches, big deal. Give me many times a middle finger. Big deal. Big deal. Big deal. That to me is like zippo nothing. Amen. I mean, like, it doesn't even change my expression or my smile. I don't even lose my smile. Smile. Come on. So let's take advantage of our freedom. Can I hear an amen? Let's take advantage of our freedom. Let's be big mouths for Jesus. It's okay. [00:25:18]

Can you be too much of a blabbermouth for Jesus? Maybe, but I think we're erring on the other side. We're too quiet. Can I hear an amen to that? We're too quiet. Come on, now. [00:26:27]

Before we leave planet Earth, can we try to aspire to that? Can I get an amen? Can I get an amen on that? I've watched old guys. I've learned from old guys. I've loved old guys. Old guys are bold. Old guys don't care what you think. They just care what Jesus thinks. Old guys are transparent. Old guys are the same with Christians and non Christians. So I've aspired to be an old guy, and I'm getting to be an old guy. Amen. And the last few years, I had, like, a new fearlessness on me. I'm like, I like this. You know, I've confessed for years the righteous are bold as a lion. But finally, I'm actually experiencing that. Hallelujah. I like that. So can we aspire to that? Can I hear an amen on that? [00:27:37]

He spoke up. He spoke up. For the gospel. He spoke up for Jesus. He spoke up for Bible morals. He spoke up for Bible morality. He spoke up for Bible marriage. He spoke up for biblical relationships. He spoke up for truth. He spoke up for righteousness. Watch his stuff. He did it on campus where they're confused and they need it. Amen. Come on now. Come on now. [00:28:47]

So the blood of the martyrs is seed of the church. I believe our campuses are ripe for truth, ripe for clarity, ripe to get out of confusion. Ripe. My heart goes out. These young kids that are so gender confused. I see some of them and I go man, man. My heart goes out. My heart goes out. My heart goes out. My heart goes out. God did not create 131 different genders and identities. No, he did not. He didn't. And in the beginning God created them. Male and female created he them. That's what Charlie preached without hesitation. That's what he shared without hesitation. [00:30:58]

This is what Charlie said. I love them. That's who God has called me to. Okay, so all this baloney. Well, Charlie, you know, he wasn't a true Christian. He wasn't a true martyr. Please, please, sit back and watch the fruit. And we are. Sit back and watch the fruit. Come on now. Amen, Jesus. [00:32:46]

So in conclusion, let's all. Let's all say, lord, give me the conviction to speak up and be a witness in the midst of an evil and perverse generation like the Bible calls it. To speak up and be a witness against the mainstream lies that are literally destroying the. This generation. The devil wants to destroy all Christian foundations in every nation. Yes, he does. Yes, he does. Who's the glue that holds the foundation together? We are. Amen. We are. So be like Perpetua. I can't be anyone else. That's who I am. I am a Christ follower. I am a Christian. Hallelujah. Come on now. Let's be like that. To the glory of God. [00:33:15]

And these martyrs. When you read these martyrs, I mean, you have to ask yourself, how deep is my love for Jesus? How deep is my love for Jesus? Deep enough that I'm willing to die for his words. Hallelujah. I've always thought so. My attitude has always been, if you're going to kill me for the gospel, I would hope you'll do it quickly. You know, if you're shooting me, aim right here and hit me. Boom. You know? But even on top of all that, God has given grace. Grace. Abundant grace. Sufficient grace for all those who walk this walk before us. Amen. He has and he will. In Jesus. He has any will. [00:34:14]

Above all, we want to bring you the truth that will give you true freedom and give you hope for eternity. Amen. In Jesus name. [00:35:49]

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