Jesus gave His life, but He was
not a martyr. He was God in the flesh,
and the only One who was capable to pay the price for our sin. He was our
Sin-bearer. Isaiah 53:4-6 gave this prophecy:
Surely
He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way (NKJV);
And the Lord gave Him up for our sins (LXX).
Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,And by His stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way (NKJV);
And the Lord gave Him up for our sins (LXX).
Jesus has rescued us from hell,
the place we deserved for our sin. So now
he has a rightful claim on us; our lives are His. He asks that we follow His commands. Some of those commands, when carried out, threaten
Satan’s domination of the earth. So, if we are to clearly give and live our faith, we
might have to give our life. But as
Jesus said in Matthew 10:24-26, 27-28:
A
disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.25 It
is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his
master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how
much more will they call those
of his household! 26 Therefore
do not fear them…. “Whatever I tell you in the
dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the
housetops. 28 And
do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear
Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Jesus knew that those who believe and abide in Him are set
for an eternity with Him, thank God. But
we cannot weaken in those crucial moments, if such moments should arrive. We must assert we are His and not deny
Him when persecution heats up. To do that would put our soul in
eternal danger. So let’s look at
martyrdom carefully, face to face…..
Man’s inhumanity to man is often most destructive in religious zeal. Satan’s emissaries seem to be working hardest in this arena, knowing that if they can get “Christians” to kill Christians, it tears down the name of Christ the most. In men’s white-hot demonic state of irrational hatred, morality is lost, and unimaginable cruelties on innocent people are “justified” on religious grounds. We know of the recent outbreaks of horrors by ISIS. Need I remind you, they are a group grounded in the religion of Islam, whose Quran teaches them to hate Christians (see my other blog for proof). You should also read up on Boko Haram, an Islamic State Western Province group, who since 2009 have killed 20,000 in Nigeria and displaced 2.3 million people from their homes. In Nigeria, many whole villages had previously turned to Christ. Boko Haram targets these villages and raids them with guns and machetes, carrying on unspeakable slaughter against Christians. Boko Haram began his career by listening to an Islamist preacher, Mohammed Marwa, renamed Maitatsine (meaning: “the one who damns”) in the 1970s.
But these horrors are déjà vu,
I’m sorry to say. Past martyrdom was uglier--it was done, not by Islam vs. Christian, but by "Christian" vs Christian. In the 1400-1600s, it
was Catholics killing Protestants, and even Protestants
killing other Protestants. But--when it came
to a group so pure as the Anabaptists, their Christianity was so Christlike that they were “dangerous”--so both
Protestants and Catholics went about killing them. Luther and Calvin were Protestants, but also found excuses to kill them. Not surprising, since Luther and Calvin were
incomplete reformers of the Gospel (as I have proven in my other blogs). The Anabaptists were closer to Kingdom living, the real gospel, than they were.
With “Christians” killing
Christians in those days, the problem is that in that time, entire
nation-states declared themselves Catholic “Christian” or Protestant "Christian," and many people were coerced, or intimidated, into going through the motions, and people were trained, from birth, to hate one another--which is not Christian. They ignored the Bible, which plainly speaks out against hate. But there were actually few who really read their
Scripture AND followed Christ's commandments--the real Christians. The haters, though, were just “nominal” Christians, who
were able to practice unspeakable horror for “religious reasons”—they were the
worst kind of humanity. After all, who attacked Jesus with the most abusive language? The
religious leaders. And did Jesus say many people would be saved, or be a real Christian? No. Read Matthew 7:13-14:
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
I have other blogs exposing the
truth about terrible things done by Calvin and Luther, both Protestants. For balance, I would like to lift some
enlightening literature from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and Martyr’s
Mirror, exposing horrific deeds done by Catholics. There are three things I would like to say. First:
Don’t read this to your kids. The things that were done are just too
grisly to repeat. Secondly, this is not
a sad tale, really. The endurance of
these real Christian martyrs, and their uplifting words, are an inspiration to all. In Christ, they really knew the meaning of
Paul’s words—“O death, where is thy sting?”
Thirdly, these stories—even their quotes—are not exaggerated fables. Foxe lived in the 1550s, in the midst of it
all, and most of the Mirror (and some of works added to Foxe, which I
have)--were taken from contemporary journals.
May God allow you to be horrified—and yet inspired to Him—as you
read.
Our first reading is subtitled
“the Valleys of Piedmont in the 1600s.” (These
were the Waldenses, one of the earliest groups protesting against Catholicism's departure from Scripture, being persecuted in northwest Italy and Switzerland). Foxe tells the story; here is his quote:
Pope Clement VIII sent
missionaries into the valleys of Piedmont, to induce the Protestants to
renounce their religion. These
missionaries erected monasteries…(which became) sanctuaries for all cowards to fly to that had injured the Waldenses. This inspired them to further assaults. The
Protestant Waldenses, therefore, petitioned the duke of Savoy for protection. But instead of getting any redress, the duke
published a decree, in which he declared that one witness should be sufficient
in a court of law against a Protestant, and that any witness who convicted any
Protestant of any crime whatsoever should be entitled to a hundred crowns
reward. As may be imagined, many
Protestants fell martyrs to perjury and avarice.
To encourage the apostasy of the
Protestants, the duke published a proclamation that exempted from all taxes for
five years if the heretics would recant and embrace the holy Roman faith. There were also several successive edicts,
prohibiting the Protestants from acting as schoolmasters, from holding any
places of profit, trust, or honor, and commanding them to attend mass. This last was a sure signal for a
persecution, which soon followed. (The Waldenses said that the mass was not the body and blood of our Lord, and therefore the Catholics committed blasphemy.)
Before the persecution commenced,
the missionaries employed kidnappers to steal away the children of the
Protestants,that they might privately be brought up Roman Catholics. Later they took away children by open force,
and if the poor parents resisted, they were immediately murdered. One of the first persons who
attracted the notice of the papists was Mr. Sebastian Basan, a zealous
Protestant, who was seized by the missionaries, confined, tormented 15 months,
and then committed to the flames.
That was followed by a most cruel
order, dated January 25, 1655, that every family of the reformed religion,
inhabiting estates in Lucerne, St Giovanni, etc, (in Switzerland) within three days of
publication of said order, must depart out of said places, and translated into
the places tolerated by his highness—namely Bobbio, Angrogno, etc. In between
was a mountainous terrain. And all this was
to be done on the pain of death, and confiscation of house and goods, unless
within the limited time they recanted and turned Roman Catholic.
The winter was remarkably
severe. (Ed: This trip was, on average,
140 miles through the Alps, so they spent many overnights outdoors. But they hadn’t had time to pack for this weather.) The duke’s troops drove them from their
habitations and were assisted by French troops, Irish brigades, and several
bands formed of outlaws, smugglers, and prisoners, who had been promised pardon
in the world, and absolution in the next, for assisting in their
extermination. (Ed: Plus, they might get
a confiscated house.)
Many of the Protestants
perished in the mountains from the weather or lack of food. Refusing to move was
a poor alternative. An armed multitude,
encouraged by the bishops and monks, fell upon the remaining Protestants in a
most furious manner. All now was horror
and despair: blood stained the floors,
dead bodies bestrewed the streets, and groans and cries shocked the ears of
humanity from every quarter. There were several men, women, and children flung
from the rocks, and dashed to pieces (ed:
From castle heights or cliffs).
Mary Raymondet had her flesh sliced from her bones until she expired. Anne Charboniere had one end of a stake
thrust through her body, and the other end fixed in the ground, she was left in
the manner to perish. Giovanni
Michialin, with four of his children, was apprehended; three of them were
hacked to pieces before him; the soldiers asked him at the death of every child
if he would recant—but he constantly refused.
One of the soldiers then took up the last and youngest, by the legs, and
putting the same question, he replied as before, when the inhuman brute dashed
out the child’s brains. The soldiers
roasted alive another girl, about ten years of age, at Villa Nova.
Jacob Birone, a schoolmaster, was
stripped naked, and had the nails of his toes and fingers torn off with red-hot
pincers, and holes bored through his hands.
He was led through the streets, the soldiers saying, “Will you go to
mass?” He replied in the negative, and
being at length taken to the bridge, they cut off his head on the balustrades.
Daniel Rambaut, of Villaro was
seized and committed to the jail. Here
he was visited by several priests, who with continual importunities, strove to
persuade him to turn papist. He refused.
Then the priests pretended to pity his large family, and told him that
he might yet have his life if he would subscribe his belief to the following
articles: 1. The real presence (of Christ) in the
host. 2. Transubstantiation (Ed: The belief that the bread and wine actually
become the body and blood of Jesus). 3.
Purgatory. 4. The pope’s
infallibility. 5. That masses said for
the dead will release souls from purgatory.
6. That praying for saints will procure the remission of sins. To these Rambaut replied (in part): 1. To believe the real presence (of Jesus) in the host
is blasphemy and idolatry….5. Saying masses for the dead is only meant to keep
up a belief in the fable of purgatory, but the fate of all is decided by the time of departure of the soul from the body. (i.e., trying to change God's decision after their death is a waste of time). 6. Praying to saints for the remission
of sins is misplacing adoration, as the living saints themselves have a need for an intercessor in Christ; therefore, as God only can pardon our errors, we
ought to sue to Him alone for pardon.
(Ed: Scripture does not have
support for the six Catholic claims). Filled with rage at these answers, the priests
determined to shake his resolution by the most cruel method imaginable; they
ordered one joint of his fingers to be cut off every day; then his toes;
afterwards, they alternately cut off, daily, a hand and a foot, and finding
that he bore his sufferings with the most unconquerable fortitude, and
maintained his faith with steadfast resolution, they stabbed him to the heart,
and gave his body to be devoured by dogs.
(Ed: Even crueler acts—if it were possible—are
detailed in Wikipedia’s “Waldensians,” along with a never-to-be forgotten horrifying
illustration, as well. It seems that the
only ones to belatedly organize help to these people were some Protestants).
Now let’s go to another true
story in Martyr’s Mirror. Under
the heading: “Weynken, a Widow, of Monickendam, November 20, 1527” (Ed: This was in Holland). Weynken, an Anabaptist,
was persecuted by both Zwinglians—Calvinist Protestants—and papists.
On November 15, Weynken was
brought prisoner from the castle to the Hague.
On the 18th, she was arraigned before the Governor and the
full council of Holland. There a woman
asked her: Have you well considered the
things which my lords proposed to you?
Ans: I abide by what I have said.
Ques: If you do not speak differently, and turn
from your error, you will be subjected to an intolerable death.
Ans: If power is given to you from above, I am
ready to suffer. (Note1 of 11--See Scriptures at end).
Ques: Do you, then, not fear death, which you have
never tasted?
Ans: This is true; but I shall never taste death,
for Christ says, “If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.”(2) The
rich man (the only way to get rich in those days was, your family had oppressed the poor, so it was assumed he was non-Christian. Jesus didn't have many nice words about richness either) tasted death, and shall taste it forever.(3)
Ques: What do you hold concerning the sacrament?
Ans: I hold your sacrament to be bread and flour,
and if you hold it as God, I say that is your devil.
Ques: What do you hold concerning the saints?
Ans: I know no other Mediator than Christ.(4)
Ques: You must die, if you abide by this.
Ans: I am already dead.(5)
Ques: If you are dead, how can you speak?
Ans: The Spirit lives in me; the Lord is in me,
and I am in Him (6)
Ques: Will you have a confessor, or not?
Ans: I have Christ, to Him I confess;
nevertheless, if I have offended any, I would willingly ask them to forgive me.
Ques: Who has taught you to this opinion, and how did
you come to it?
Ans: The Lord, who calls all men to Him; I am one
of His sheep; therefore I hear His voice.(7)
During the two following days she
was entreated and tempted by various persons, by monks, priests, women, and her
nearest friends. A woman, prompted by
sincerity, commiserated with her after this fashion:
Ques: Dear mother, can you not think what you
please, and keep it to yourself? Then
you will not die.
Ans: Dear sister, I am commanded to speak, and am
constrained to do so. Though they burn
me tomorrow, or put me into a bag, I care not; I will adhere to the Lord. It grieves me to see that these good men are
all so blinded; I will pray the Lord for them.
(Ed Note: This phrase “adhere” to the Lord was like its synonym “abide,” to be found at John 15:5-7, 9-10, where our
Lord says:
(“I am
the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in
him, bears much fruit…6 If anyone does not abide
in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and
throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask
what you desire, and it shall be done for you… 9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My
love. 10 If you keep My
commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s
commandments and abide in His love
(You can see why Meynken was critically
interested in adhering to Christ; if we don’t do it, we are in hell. Where do you stand, reader?)
Two Dominican friars came to
her. One showed her the crucifix,
saying, “See, here is your Lord and your God.”
She answered, “This is not my God; the cross by which I am redeemed, is
a different one. This is a wooden god;
throw him into the fire, and warm yourselves with him.” (Ed:
Nothing is wrong with the crucifix—but in those days, and to a limited
extent now, it was supposed to have special powers and was worshiped. Thus it became an
idol. That was her problem with it). The other friar asked her in the morning she
was to die, whether she would receive the sacrament (presumably Last Rites,
which supposedly granted final absolution of sins). She refused.
Upon his mention of Mass, she told him bluntly that he had crucified
Christ anew.
Ques: What do you hold concerning the holy
oil?
Ans: Oil is good for salad, or to oil your shoes
with. (Ed: Her great desire to eliminate
popish practices went too far here, for as James 5:14 shows, oil might, with
faith, bring on healing:
( Is anyone among you
sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him,
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
(She still might have had just cause to reject
it in her day, because the Catholic church, in those days as now, has assumed
several other powers of oil, thus calling it “holy oil.” And even water, calling it “holy water.”)
When she was again brought before the
court, a monk held the crucifix before her face, saying, “Do recant before
sentence is passed.” But Weynken said,
“I adhere to my Lord and my God; neither death nor life shall separate me from
Him (8). The Dean of Naeldwijck, the
inquisitor, read the sentence in Latin and Dutch. She was found in error with regard to the
sacrament. Thus she was a heretic, so he
delivered her to the secular arm...but then he retired from the council,
evidently impressed by her godliness.
The chancellor however immediately read that she should be burnt to
ashes, and all her property to be confiscated.
Then Weynken said, “Has all been done now? I beg you all that if I have harmed or
offended any, that you will forgive me.”
As they were leaving the council
chamber, the monk said to her that she should call upon our Lady to intercede
for her.
Ans:
our lady is well content in God.
Ques:
Call upon her.
Ans: We have Christ, Who sitteth on the
right hand of His Father; He prays for us (Ed: actually, it says “makes
intercession for us”) (9).
Ques:
Will you condemn all these (Catholics)?
Ans: Not all. Judgment belongs unto God. (10)
Ques:
Do you not fear the severe judgment of God?
Ans:
God comes not to condemn sinners, but to give them peace. (11)
On the scaffold (these people were burned publicly), the monk said, “Now you
will have to go into the fire; do recant.” She said, “I am well content; the
Lord’s will must be done.”
The executioner then made ready the
ropes with which he was to strangle her.
She put the strap around her neck.
The monk finally said, “Do you renounce all heresy?” She:
“I do.” Monk: “This is well; are you also sorry that you
erred?” She: “I formerly did err indeed
(ed: When she was a Catholic). This however is no error, but the true way,
and I adhere to God.”
Then the executioner did his work. November 20, 1527.
Our last entry is from 1572, in Foxe’s,
called “A Horrible Massacre in France,” relating to St Bartholomew, in
Paris. A massacre was plotted by
Catharine de Medicis, mother of the king Charles IX. It was carried out by
Parisian nobles and citizenry. The
victims of this slaughter were yet another Protestant group, the Huguenots. Unparalleled cruelties spread to other
provinces, and within one month, an estimated 60,000 Protestants were slain of
men and women alike. When intelligence
of the massacre was received at Rome, the greatest rejoicings took place, and a
medal was struck to commemorate this “victory of the faith.” The pope and his cardinals went in solemn
procession to the church of St Mark, to give thanks to God. A jubilee was also published. Similar rejoicings were celebrated all over
France.
I think it is appropriate now to present
the final words by a courageous man, vanquished in body, but not in soul, which
is in heaven forevermore: “I trust that
my salvation is already sealed in heaven, and that the blood of Christ, in
which I firmly trust, has washed away my sins.
I now cast off this mantle of clay, for robes of eternal glory.”
Now let us ponder the words of our Lord,
in John 16:1-3:
“All this I have told you so that you will not fall away. 2 ...the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering
a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have
not known the Father or me.”
Notes:
1. John 19:11 2. John 8:51 3. Luke 16:23 4. I John 2:19 5. Galatians 2:19 6. John 14:20 7. John 10:27 8. Romans 8:39 9. Romans 8:34 10. Hebrews 10:30 11. Luke 9:56.
Acknowledgements: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs and Martyr’s
Mirror.
