Rev. David Holwick T After Acts: Early Church series #2
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 30, 2004
Acts 7:51 - 8:4
MARTYRS - THE BLOOD IS SEED
I. They paid the price. (Memorial Day tie-in... flags at graves)
A. Perpetua's story.
The year was 202, the city was Carthage, a Roman city in North
Africa (what is now Tunis).
Perpetua was a 22-year-old noblewoman who lived there with her
husband, her infant son, and her slave, Felicitas.
Carthage was home to a vibrant Christian community, and
Perpetua was a new believer.
Roman Emperor Septimius Severus, however, believed Christianity
undermined patriotism to the empire.
He decided to persecute Christians, focusing his attention on
North Africa.
Among the first to be arrested were five Christians taking
classes to prepare for baptism, one of whom was Perpetua.
Her father immediately came to her in prison.
As a pagan, he realized there was an easy way for Perpetua to
save herself: simply deny she was a Christian.
"Father do you see this vase here?" she replied.
"Could it be called by any other name than what it is?"
"No," he replied.
"Well, neither can I be called anything other than what I am,
a Christian."
In the next days, Perpetua was moved to a better part of the
prison and allowed to breast feed her child.
On his next visit, her father pleaded more passionately:
"Have pity on my gray head. Have pity on me, your father."
He threw himself down before her and kissed her hands.
"Think of your brothers; think of your mother...; think of your
child, who will not be able to live once you are gone.
Give up your pride!"
Perpetua was deeply touched but remained unshaken.
She tried to comfort her father - "It will all happen as God
wills, for you may be sure that we are not left to ourselves
but are all in his power."
The day of the hearing arrived.
Perpetua and her friends were marched before the governor,
Hilarianus.
Perpetua's friends all admitted to being Christians.
They refused to make the required sacrifice to the emperor.
Then the governor turned to question Perpetua.
At that moment, her father, carrying Perpetua's son in his
arms, burst into the room.
He grabbed Perpetua and pleaded, "Perform the sacrifice.
Have pity on your baby!"
Hilarianus, probably wishing to avoid executing a mother still
nursing a child, added, "Have pity on your father's gray
head; have pity on your infant son.
Offer the sacrifice for the welfare of the emperors."
"I will not."
"Are you a Christian, then?" asked the governor.
"Yes, I am," Perpetua replied.
The governor then condemned Perpetua and her friends to die in
the arena.
Perpetua, her friends, and her servant Felicitas were led to
the stadium.
Wild beasts and gladiators roamed the arena floor, and in the
stands, crowds roared to see blood.
Immediately a wild heifer charged the group.
Perpetua was tossed into the air and onto her back.
She sat up, adjusted her ripped tunic, and walked over to help
Felicitas.
Next a leopard was let loose, and it wasn't long before it
attacked and mauled the Christians.
Still, the crowd was impatient, and began screaming for the
deaths of the Christians.
Perpetua and her friends were lined up, and one by one, slain
by a gladiator's sword.
The account of Perpetua's life and death was is one of the
most complete stories recorded by the early church.
Some of it was taken from Perpetua's own prison diary.
The story stands out as a clear picture of a young mother
whose love of Christ superseded all other loves.
She was not alone - tens of thousands of other Christians
laid down their lives for their faith. #26683
B. Tertullian's famous quote.
1) The leader of the early church said,
"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."
2) The more the church was persecuted, the more it grew.
II. All who are godly will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12
A. Jesus predicted it.
1) Just as he suffered, he promised we would.
2) "A time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he
is offering a service to God." John 16:2
a) (very appropriate today)
3) "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me will find it." Matt 16:25
4) "Whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before
my Father in heaven." Matt 10:33
B. The Church experienced it.
1) It began with Stephen. Acts 7
a) Residents of Jerusalem were appalled at his message.
1> You don't need a temple, you just need Jesus.
2> Even the Apostle Paul helped kill him.
b) In the early years, most persecution was local.
1> Nero killed hundreds of Christians, including Paul
and Peter, after Rome burned.
A> However, he did not try to wipe out the church.
2> Roman empire was so vast it had to be tolerant of
religion.
A> Jews had special status and did not have to
sacrifice to the Emperor.
B> Christians had no special status.
2) Systematic persecution, A.D. 250-330.
a) Empire came under siege - barbarians, disasters.
1> Christians get blame for every disasters.
Tertullian commented:
"If the Tiber overflows or the Nile doesn't,
the cry goes up: Christians to the lion!"
A> Few liked them anyway.
B> Christians' exclusivism, negativity (hellfire).
2> Their presence unhinged the harmony of existence.
A> By not sacrificing, they became enemies.
B> They also showed their courage.
b) Greatest persecution came under Emperor Diocletian.
1> His edict in A.D. 303 ordered the destruction of all
Christian places of worship and written materials
as well as the execution of Christians.
2> Nine years later, a Roman general stood near the
Milvian Bridge and saw something strange in the
sky.
It was the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and next
to it the words, 'Under this sign, conquer.'
III. Christians still die for their faith.
A. More martyrs today than in the first four centuries.
1) Muslims who become Christians face the death penalty in
Sudan, Mauritania, Iran and Iraq.
2) It is illegal for a citizen to be a Christian in Saudi
Arabia, or for a foreigner resident to have a Bible.
3) Thousands of Christians have been killed in Sudan,
Indonesia, Nigeria and India. #4943
B. Faithful unto death.
Festo Kivengere was a Christian bishop in Uganda, Africa, a
country that was terrorized by dictator Idi Amin.
In 1973 three men in his church were arrested by the government
and sentenced to death.
Festo told of what happened.
People were commanded to come to the stadium and witness an
execution.
Death permeated the air as a silent crowd of 3,000 watched.
Festo had permission from the authorities to speak to the men
before they died.
They brought the men in a truck and unloaded them.
They were handcuffed and their feet were chained.
The firing squad stood at attention.
As Festo walked to the center of the stadium, he was wondering
what to say.
How do you give the gospel to doomed men who are probably
seething with rage?
He approached the prisoners from behind, and as they turned to
look at him, what a sight!
Their faces were all alight with an unmistakable glow and
radiance.
Before Festo could say anything, one of them burst out:
"Bishop, thank you for coming!
I wanted to tell you: the day I was arrested, in my prison cell,
I asked the Lord Jesus to come into my heart.
He came in and forgave me all my sins!
Heaven is now open, and there is nothing between me and my God!
Please tell my wife and children that I am going to be with Jesus.
Ask them to accept him into their lives as I did."
The other two men told similar stories, excitedly raising their
hands, which rattled their handcuffs.
Festo felt that what I needed to do was to talk to the soldiers,
not to the condemned.
So he translated what the men had said into a language the
soldiers understood.
The military men were standing there with guns cocked and
bewilderment on their faces.
They were so dumbfounded that they forgot to put the hoods over
the men's faces!
The three faced the firing squad standing close together.
They looked toward the people and began to wave, handcuffs and all.
The people waved back.
Then shots were fired, and the three were with Jesus.
The crowd stood in front of them, their hearts throbbing with joy,
mingled with tears.
It was a day never to be forgotten.
Though dead, the men spoke loudly to all of Kegezi District and
beyond.
There was an upsurge of life in Christ, which challenges death
and defeats it.
The next Sunday, Festo was preaching to a huge crowd in the
hometown of one of the executed men.
Again, the feel of death was over the congregation.
But when he gave them the testimony of their man, and how he died,
there erupted a great song of praise to Jesus!
Many turned to the Lord there.
#1997
IV. What we can learn from the martyrs.
A. We need heroes of the faith.
1) Main feeling at Toledo University, where our missionary Nancy
Bartolec ministers - spiritual apathy.
2) Be bold for Jesus.
a) If we deny him, he'll deny us...
B. We must support those who are persecuted. Hebrews 10:34
1) Letters of support.
2) Gain knowledge of the situation.
a) John Hanford, friend who works in U.S. State Department on
religious persecution.
C. Do you believe Christianity enough to die for it?
1) It is not just a preference or hobby.
2) Even better - will you live for it?
a) Just make sure you don't kill for it.
1> Fanaticism is not faith.
2> (Yesterday's suicide attack in Saudi Arabia.)
3) Live boldly for Jesus.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1997 "Victory In Death, " by Ray Stamps of Los Gatos, California;
Leadership Journal, Winter 1985, page 48.
# 4943 "Church Growing Faster Than Ever But At Great Cost," Matt Sanders
Baptist Press (with Goshen.net), http://www.baptistpress.org/
November 8, 1999.
#26683 "Perpetua's Choice: Facing The Toughest Temptation," Mark Galli,
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/8r4/8r4017.html;
Today's Christian, July/August 1998.
For information on helping persecuted Christians, see International
Christian Concern at http://www.persecution.org
These and 25,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/illust.html
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