Word of God - Sacrifice your Physically Life

April 12, 2009, 10:57 am by dc-agape.

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I am down to the last two posts on the Word of God and what it requires of the followers of Jesus.  Since this is Easter Sunday it seems overly fitting that this topic should be on how the Word of God not only suggests (as a good thing) that you give up your physically life (death) but that it is part of your faith.  Not only are you required to be willing to give up your physically life but that you are required to give up your physically life.  Christianity is a death cult, it might be white-washed with the sanctity of life, but the spiritual rebirth leads to a struggle against this world that will lead to you dying for your faith.  Obviously, most of Christendom has not had this rebirth, and that is why few Christians die for their faith these days.

We all know that Peter and Paul died for their faith.  We all know that the excuse for why it does not happen today is how evil the Roman Empire was (plus some put the blame on the Jewish leaders).  But we also know that today is just as evil as 2000 years ago, or at least that is what your spiritual leaders tell you.  So, if the world is still evil, why are there no martyrs today?  Simple, your faith is so watered down that you will not stand-up for what you believe in.  In other words, you are cowards.  No instead, here in the US it is the minorities, like African Americans, Mexicans, homosexuals, and politicians who are murdered for their beliefs or just their existence.  Isn’t odd how the world has been turned up-side down?  And it is not a good thing.  It is also not the “turned up-side down” that Christianity is supposed to create.

Many people know that Stephen died for his faith (Acts 7:59).  Fewer people know that James the brother of John died for his faith (Acts 12:2).  What is important to this post is not the “famous” leaders.  I want to focus on the regular followers of the Faith.  One, in particular is singled out in the Book of Revelations:

Rev 2:13 I know where you live – where Satan has his thrown.  Yet you remained true to my name.  You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city – where Satan lives.

Future generations made Antipas into a Bishop, but no “Bishops” were named in the 1^st century CE.  He may have been the leader of the church in Pergamum, but no proof of that is available.  We do know that he was willing to put his life in jeopardy for the religion and died for that faith.  How many Christians today, in the US, will do that?

Before Paul became the hero of the NT, he put many Christians to death:

Acts 26:10 And that is exactly what I did in Jerusalem.  On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

Notice the word “many” the NT does not record who Paul killed.  The concept of “many” means that he dragged more than just the ones mentioned in the Word of God.  For example:

Acts 8:3 But Saul began to destroy the church.  Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in jail.

It is a simple recognition that those Saul dragged to prison (Acts 8:3) are the same ones put to death (Acts 26:10).  Has Satan lost his hold on earth?  Is that why Christians today do not have to worry about being put to death? Or is it that today’s Christians are just not as radical as they were in the first century CE? 

Guess what the answer is?  The Book of Revelations has two verses that should answer that question.   At the end days this is what John of Patmos has to say:

Rev 6:9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the alter the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and the testimony they had maintained.

The entire passage is worth reading (Rev 6:9-11).  And it can be claimed that many of the souls he saw where the old prophets from Israel.  But the 11^th verse indicated that not all the servants of the Word were yet complete.  John of Patmos indicates when this will occur:

Rev 20:4-5 I saw thrones on which were seated those you had been given authority to judge.  And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.  They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their forehead or their hands.  They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were ended.)  This was the first resurrection.

So from these two verses it is clear that those who die for the word of God are special, even more special than a normal Christian.  I guess today there are just none of these special “Christians”!  It’s a shame that none have the faith today that past and future generations will have.  But then Jesus did say:

Luke 18:8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?

Even Jesus was worried that humans would lose faith!  By being part of this world, Christians are no better than this world.  And this means that they do not have faith. 

Mark 13:13 All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

I will now burst your Christian bubble.  No one hates you because of Jesus!  If anyone hates you it is because you are weak-willed cowards, or stubborn arrogant fools.  If you actually obeyed Jesus we would still not hate you…because then you would be doing the right thing!  But instead you allow the Traditions of Men to water down the teaching of Jesus to the point of being legalistic gibberish, just like the Pharisees in Jesus’ time.

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