Alright im gonna preach to yall. So in history weve been learning about the early church and how it got started and what were some of the things that the early Christians had to go through just because they believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Its heart breaking stuff to learn about but its something everyone today needs to know about. So Im gonna share just a few stories about how Love Costs Everything. The first account id like to bring up is a Roman woman who lived during a time of great persecution in Rome. Her name was Perpetua now she was part of a well distinguished Roman family. But she believed in Jesus against the wishes of all her family and all of Rome. So she was asked to recant her belief and swear her allegiance to Caesar or die. She would not recant. So the Romans fed her to wild animals and she was martyred for Christ. Perpetua could have gotten away scot free and just said i dont believe in God and she would have lived a long enjoyable life. But she did not stand down, she professed her allegiance to Jesus not Caesar. Another account is of monk who was living in the desert and heard of the Colosseum and how Christians were being murdered there for fun. So he left his home and went to Rome and went to the Colosseum and saw the people begin to be murdered. He got up from his seat and went into the arena and said in the name of God, stop this murder and blooshed. After he said that a guard came up and crushed his skull with an axe. But after that day never again were Christians put in that arena to die. Now lets fast forward to the 16 century were you have the Roman Catholic Church persecuting the Protestant Reformers. A young girl named Margret the daughter of a reformer, was caught with an older woman also named Margret. They were both sentenced to be drowned. They drowned the older woman first and made Margret watch. Then they asked her to recant and swear her allegiance to the King of England. She would not so they began to drown her. They pulled her from the water and asked her to say God Save the King. She looked at them and said I hope God does save him. But i will not change my beliefs. I hope God comes into his heart and heals him. But i will not recant. So the men pushed her back down into the water and drowned her. The final account i want to share is the account of a man who was convicted of being a reformer but recanted his beliefs. However the queen of England still sentenced him to be executed. At his execution he preached one last sermon. In that sermon he asked that God have mercy on his pitiful soul who in the face of danger signed papers that said he did not belief the truth. He asked that God burn his hand off first before his body. The same hand he had signed the papers with. When the executioner lit his stake ablaze he put his right and out and let it burn. It burned completely off before the flames reached the ret of his body. Now you tell me that these people didnt know that to love God it costs everything. They died for what? They died showing that Jesus is more than life. That Jesus is more than anything. Christ is where life begins. Without Him you have no life. There are so many amazing stories of how people gave everything for Jesus. They gave their money, their homes, their time, and some cases like Ive talked about their lives for Christ. Even today Christians are run out of their homes and murdered because of their beliefs. Their belief that Jesus is more. The belief that the Love of Christ costs EVERYTHING. If you love Jesus your saying you are willing to die for his glory. But what would be a better way to die then by doing his work for his kingdom. Now Im not saying that we should want to die. Im saying if you had the choice to die professing Christ or live recanting him. Take death. Because death is life in Christ. Dont be afraid of death. Its only the beginning of eternity with God.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 19:25:09 +0000
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