Loyalty Unto Death
March 16, 2018
Average reading time is about 4 and a half minutes
An Amazing Fact: Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury under the reign of King Henry II, and the two men didn’t get along. Under orders supposedly from the king, several knights assassinated Becket in 1170. According to an eyewitness account, Becket was struck three times before declaring, “For the name of Jesus and the protection of the Church, I am ready to embrace death.”
Unfortunately, the history of the Christian church is saturated with the blood of martyrs. Christians were persecuted for as long as the church existed, first by the Jews, then the Romans, and eventually even from within the church itself during the Dark Ages. Though these deaths are tragic, the martyrs’ last words often reveal an unwavering faith in the God they served, for whom they ultimately gave their lives.
Whether we face death from violence or disease, we should stand firm in the knowledge that Christ remembers us and will raise us from the dead when He returns to Earth. Even before the days of Jesus, the patriarch Job demonstrated this type of faith by declaring boldly, “Though [God] slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him” (Job 13:15). Job had this faith even before the cross; how much more should we have this kind of faith looking back on the cross!
The Bible promises a time of tribulation before Jesus returns, and living during this time will not be easy. But even if God calls us to die for our faith, we have hope. God promises to remember every time a person sheds another’s blood. (See Genesis 9:6.) He also promises justice for His fallen children and everlasting life as a reward for remaining true to Him.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
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. Revelation 12:11
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=89355.0