And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Rev. 12:11
Because of their dangerous situation vis-a-vis the law, Christians were almost bound to meet in the street....Every Christian knew that sooner or later he might have to testify to his faith at the cost of his life....When persecution did break out, martyrdom could be attended by the utmost possible publicity. The Roman public was hard and cruel, but it was not altogether without compassion; and there is no doubt that the attitude of the martyrs, and particularly of the young women who suffered along with the men, made a deep impression. In the earlier records what we find is calm, dignified, decorous behavior; cool courage in teh face of torment, courtesy toward enemies, and a joyful acceptance of suffering as the way appointed by the Lord to lead to his heavenly kingdom. There are a number of well-authenticated cases of conversion of pagans in the very moment of witnessing the condemnation and death of Christians; there must have been far more who received impressions that in the course of time would be turned into a living faith.
Stephen Neil, A History of Christian Missions, pp. 43-44
+copy.jpg)
The Sufficiency of Scripture Conference
14 years ago
No comments:
Post a Comment