In Hebrews 11:35-40, the passage showed different people who went through torture and persecution in the name of God back then.
Hebrews 11:35-40 “Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.”
We see that in verse 38, the Bible indicates that the world perceived these children of God to be weird, strange, crazy, and idiotic. Ironically, these martyrs were not worthy of the world, but they were worthy of God Himself.
Can we say the same thing about ourselves after seeing what our forefathers went through?
Verse 39 shows that we might have a bad report in the world’s eyes, and be perceived as people who are disdained by society, but God says that through faith, our report can be good!
Verse 40 tells us that God’s promises are yet to be fulfilled, we just need to wait for them. God will provide us with better things, and it is through suffering that we can give glory to the name of Jesus Christ.
Are we taking a stand for our Lord Jesus Christ to the best of our ability?
Violence Out Of Tribulation
As Christians, we are called to endure great persecution and tribulation for the name of Jesus Christ. This tribulation is not about end times, it is about modern-day struggles that we go through.
Luke 21:12-17 “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.”
Jesus said we will be persecuted, and asked us to not take it as a surprise. All this persecution will become our testimony, and God will take it into account when we are in Heaven.
If we are not hated within society, and constantly seeks recognition and acceptance from society, then we are not the right church. It is not to say that we should become trouble makers and cause chaos within society, but instead, we should be spreading the truth to society in the name of our Lord. As we do that, we will be hated and persecuted, because we are the sheep that live among wolves.
Nonetheless comparing ourselves to the early Christian martyrs, is a pale comparison. The lockdown and restrictions that have been imposed upon us are nothing compared to the physical tortures that our forefathers had to go through. Just to name a few, they had to go through tortures like being through into an iron maiden full of spikes which pierced through their eyes and flesh, slowly let them bleed to death; made them swallow rags and pulled out along with their organs and inerts; burning them alive for hours or tied a bag of gunpowder on their neck for immediate explosion if they were to deny Jesus Christ.
Our forefathers would go through all this persecution and would not deny Jesus Christ, can we say the same in our spiritual walk?
In Foxe’s Book of Martyrs page 191, this is a torturous account of merely one preacher.
‘They placed him the preacher amidst them and made him the subject of their derision and mockery during a whole day’s entertainment trying to exhaust his patience, but in vain for he bore the whole with true Christian fortitude, they spit in his face, pulled his nose and pinched him in most parts of his body, he was hunted like a wild beast until ready to expire with fatigue. They made him run the gauntlet between two ranks of them each striking him with a twig, he was beat with their feasts, he was beat with ropes, they scourged him with wires. He was beat with cudgels, they tied him up by the heels with his head downwards until the blood started out of his nose mouth etc. They hung him by the right arm until it was dislocated and then had it set again, the same was repeated with his left arm. Burning papers dipped in oil were placed within his fingers and toes, his flesh was torn with red-hot pincers. He was put to the rack, they pulled off the nails of his right hands, the same was repeated with his left hand. A slit on was in his right ear, the same with his left ear. His nose was slit, they whipped him through the down upon a donkey, they made several incisions in his flesh. They pulled off the toenails of his right foot, the same with his left foot. He was tied up by the loins and suspended for a considerable time. The teeth of his upper jaw were pulled out, the same was repeated with his lower jaw. Boiling lead was poured upon his fingers, the same was repeated with his toes. A knotted cord was twisted about his forehead in such a manner as to force out his eyes. During the whole of this horrid cruelties, particular care was taken that his wounds should not mortify, and not to injure him mortally until the last day until the forcing out of his eyes proved his death.’
Our modern Churches only teach about the love of God and have programmed our minds to toxic positive thinking. It is the testimonies of these martyrs that we should be looking into to improve on our spiritual walk.
Vessels Out Of Tribulation
2 Timothy 2:20-21 and 1 Peter 1:7 are the two passages that point out that there’s a vessel that is burned and goes through suffering for the name of Jesus Christ and each vessel is different. Yet each vessel comes out as pure gold in the name of Jesus Christ.
We need to know that we are not the only ones that go through suffering, most Bible believers have gone through worse persecutions.
Martyred Woman
Mrs. Prest was brought before the Catholic council and was persecuted because she refuted the Catholic doctrines. The Catholic Church considered her as ugly, poor, and short-statured. Nevertheless, she stomped them with the right doctrines. She was willing to stand up for Jesus Christ than to compromise her doctrine. She even rejected the money that was offered to her to recant Jesus Christ.
These are all the testimonies that we should take into heart, to know how blessed we are, and to be reminded that the Bible that we are reading today does not cost us money, but the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and the martyrs.
Martyred Child
William Gardner took a stand for Jesus by standing up against the Catholic Church, he took the wafer that the Catholics believed to be a representation of Jesus Christ and smashed it on the floor, and claimed that to be an act of his conscience. He was then persecuted.
How many young adults do we have nowadays that have the burden and care for the lost souls and want to take a stand for Jesus Christ?
Martyred Old Man
Sir Gaspar Kaplitz was an 80 years old man who was persecuted for Christ’s sake. He was delighted to sacrifice for Christ. He did not treasure worldly longevity but instead set his affection on what’s above in Heaven.
Martyred Ministry Worker
John Philpot was forced to sign a recantation and sadly while he did sign. Then he was convicted so he decided to tear off the recantation paper. The fake scholars then imprisoned him and put him through 14 trials.
Victory Out Of Tribulation
2 Timothy 4:6-8 points out that Paul fought a good fight, and he pulled a victory out of his trial. He was proud to proclaim all the trials he went through for the name of Jesus Christ.
This is very unlike the society nowadays, where people today are very proud to boast about our successes, our earthly rewards, which is a shame in comparison to the early martyrs who left nothing but marks of their persecution for Jesus Christ’s sake.
The thing that we should be proud of is our suffering for Christ, not our earthly accolades.
One of the greatest pieces of evidence of Jesus’ resurrection is if these people were lying as witnesses, why would they be willing to go through the persecution that would baffle their persecutors, to the extent there were Romans centurions who were converted and got saved.
From the stories of these martyrs, we learn that no matter what persecution that all of hell can throw at us, we know that there is always the victory of Jesus. We need to just surrender ourselves and our faith in Him, God will never fail us, that is His promise to us.