Matthew 5:11-12 (ESV) 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The Patriarchs, Prophets, and Apostles were not free from the suffering of this life, nor was the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Stephan was stoned at the command of Saul or Paul of Tarsus. Paul had his head cut off. Peter was nailed to a cross upside down. James the brother of John was killed by a sword. James the Lesser was thrown from a pinnacle of the Temple, then stoned and beaten with clubs. Andrew was tied to an X cross and left to starve but he kept preaching until his body gave out. Bartholomew was Flayed to death. Matthew was killed by a sword. Early Church Clement was tied to an anchor and thrown into the sea. Polycarp was burnt on a stake and then stabbed with a sword. Ignatius was torn apart by wild animals in the coliseum. Justin was flogged and then his head was cut off. Perpetua and Felicitas were mauled by wild animals in the coliseum and then executed by a sword. August 10 — Laurence, Deacon and Martyr Early in the third century A.D., Laurence, most likely born in Spain, made his way to Rome. There he was appointed chief of the seven deacons and was given the responsibility to manage church property and finances. The emperor at the time, who thought that the church had valuable things worth confiscating, ordered Laurence to produce the “treasures of the church.” Laurence brought before the emperor the poor whose lives had been touched by Christian charity. He was then jailed and eventually executed in the year 258 by being roasted on a gridiron. His martyrdom left a deep impression on the young church. Almost immediately, the date of His death, August 10, became a permanent fixture on the early commemorative calendar of the Church. I could list many horrific deaths of the early Christians but my point is made. Wisdom 2:23-24 (KJV) 23For God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of his own eternity. 24Nevertheless through envy of the devil came death into the world: and they that do hold of his side do find it. Matthew 10:28 (ESV) And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. John 7:7 (ESV) The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. John 12:25 (ESV) Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 15:18 (ESV) “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. John 15:19 (ESV) If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 17:14 (ESV) I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. John 3:13 (ESV) Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. Revelation 21:4 (ESV) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 20:42:23 +0000
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