Be Prepared...to Give an AnswerНамуна

BE PREPARED... TO GIVE AN ANSWER

DAY SIX 

It was anything but safe to be a Christian during the years of the early church,  AKA, The Way.  For history tells us that the Roman Empire didn’t see too kindly to those people they’d ordered to stop talking about repentance and faith in the One True God.  Imagine being ordered to denounce your faith or else be sawed in half, or stoned, or crucified, or tossed in a cage full of lions.  What kind of person would accept such a torturous fate if they weren’t absolutely convinced where they were going when they died?      

Scripture tells us about two apostles, James and Stephen being martyred for their faith in Christ.  King Herod ordered that James be beheaded, and Stephen was stoned to death by his Jewish brethren, which was approved by Saul, later named Paul, the same Paul who would later come to know Christ and author two-thirds of the New Testament.         

The disciple Peter, three times, denied knowing Jesus.  But this was during the time Jesus stood trial for blasphemy.  At that time, Peter was afraid to be associated with Jesus, afraid he might see the same punishment as his Teacher, as in crucifixion.       

Three days later, though, Peter was ready and willing to tell anybody and everybody about Christ.  Why?  Because he was absolutely convinced Jesus had defeated death for all of us who had and would believe in Him as their personal Savior.      

According to tradition, eventually, Peter was sentenced to be crucified.  Any yet, Peter did not feel worthy to die as Jesus had.  So he asked to be crucified upside down.      

Before the greatest apostle of all, Paul, came to know Christ, he had it all: fortune, notoriety…a good name in the community.  But he gave it up, everything, for Jesus.     

In the book of Corinthians, he shared about some of what he’d experienced as a believer.  “…I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea…..I have labored and toiled and often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked.  Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all of the churches.”                                                                               

Tradition also tells us that Paul was martyred for his faith as well.      

Again, what kind of person willingly risks their life in such a way?         

Think about it:  If the birth and life of Jesus-and his resurrection-are not reliable, then faith in Jesus would be, well, utterly foolish.  Paul says it perfectly in the Book of Corinthians:  “If we have placed our hope in Christ for this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”      

Paul was content no matter what he was going through.  His life had purpose.  But he was also secure about his eternal future as well.  “To live is Christ,” he said, “but to die is gain.”

Even today, in 2020, Christians are being killed for their faith in Christ. 

Are you, as a believer, so convinced of the promises of God that you would be willing to do the same?