The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church

Revelation 6:9–11 ESV

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

O Lord, How Long?

In the Second Century the ancient Church Father, Tertullian, made the observation that “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. Certainly, he meant exactly that, In the Second Century Christianity was illegal. Persecution abounded. These are the days of the Seven Churches in the Revelation who felt the blowtorch of both Roman and Jewish hatred toward Jesus and His own, on their necks. These are the days when Sunday afternoons were spent in the Coliseum watching captured Christians being fed to wild beasts, drawn and quartered, used as human torches, sawn in twain, and all sorts of other horrific torture carried out on them because of their faith in Jesus Christ, the Only One who can save us from sin, death, and hell, and the only One who can give us access to God the Father. Tertullian’s words find new meaning today.

In the Twenty Fourth chapter of the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the disciples ask Jesus about the End of the World— the Last Day. Jesus does not give them a “sign” as they ask, but rather He gives them signs of what will happen before He returns on the Day that only the Father knows. In part, He says:

Matthew 24:9–14 ESV

“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

One can see why the Early Church believed that the Day of the Lord would come imminently, in their lifetime, before any of them tasted death. There were no delays. No complicated eschatological time schemes with a rebuilt Temple, a millennium, a rapture, or any of that stuff. Just Jesus appearing in the heavens to claim His own, as the Bible still teaches today. The early Church lived each day with bold anticipation of Jesus’ return. They did so because these words of Jesus were being fulfilled right before their eyes. “They will deliver you up to tribulation, and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. ..” And they were.

In our reading from the Revelation, we see the other side of this. What happened to these Martyrs after they met the “tyrants brandished steel, the lions gory mane, and bowed their necks the death to feel...” They are under the Altar of the Lord in heaven awaiting the Day of the Lord. In their waiting, they cry out to Jesus, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” They become “white robed martyrs” at that time : “Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.” Here, Jesus is referring to those appointed for martyrdom throughout the ages, for whom He is waiting to join them, before the Father brings about that Day.

Jesus’ Words Still Hold

The area under the Altar in heaven has continued to fill over the Centuries. Perhaps it has grown so common place that we have simply forgotten this truth. But Christians have been slain for their confession of Jesus ever since the Incarnation of Jesus. It started with John the Baptist’s beheading by Herod for preaching God’s Law to him. Then it was Stephen, the protomartyr, who was stoned by the Jewish leaders who hated Jesus and His followers. You can read about this in Acts, Chapter 7. We move into the early Church, as I referenced before. The Churches in the Revelation all were under fire. In the Second Century they Church Father, Polycarp, who followed the Apostle John as a Bishop, was burned at the stake. It continued right up to the present time. Communism and Radical Islam has wiped out more Christians in the last Century than all of the Christians ever martyred up to that point in history. It happened in Europe, it happened in Africa, it happened in China, it happened in Russia, it continues to happen in the Middle East and, dear brothers and sisters, it is happening here in America as well today. If not literal death, the verbal persecution, the illegal restrictions being placed on Churches and Christians, particularly with the rise of the virus out of China, are evil leaders testing the waters to see how far they can go.

Indeed, those white-robed martyrs under the Altar are approaching the totality for whom Jesus waits. The day grows closer.

You have heard of the terrible events in Afghanistan this week. The United States withdrew in an ungodly way. I fully agree that war is not good, and that to bring it to an end is a blessing. But not in this way. With all of the politics aside. what is happening is that the underside of the Altar is getting very crowded.

This past Thursday, Taliban forces began storming the homes of those in their country. Christianity is not only a capital offense for Radical Muslims— whom the Taliban are— but before killing Christians for their faith, there is unspeakable torture done to them. It matters not if you are a child, a woman, or a man. There is no compassion. Only horrific suffering, and then a newly longed-for death. As we sit here in Church today, this is happening. Literally.

We are Convicted

On Facebook this week, I spotted a meme that punched me in the gut. It said: “Church in Afghanistan -’We will gather, and likely die.’ Church in America, ‘We will Gather’ (unless there’s a cookout, birthday party, or it’s a nice day, or there a chance of rain, or I’m a little tired or something..’” It slammed me in the gut because it is so true. The time is growing short. Jesus is coming soon. And yet our faith so often just winds up as a check off box on our “to do” list that can lose its priority when something “more interesting” comes along. We have become comfortable in our Christianity at a time when the world, our country, our government, and our own personal lives, are falling a part. Don’t you see the devil’s lullaby going on here? We have become like the Church of Ephesus in the Book of the Revelation and lost our first love, Jesus Christ. I believe the Lord confronts us with this truth to awaken us from our spiritual slumber. History is repeating itself here. But so is the Lord’s solution. He calls us, by His Holy Spirit, to repentance.

He then washes us with the blood that started all of the bleeding in the world: His own. That blood which is more holy than the blood of Martyrs, that blood that flows from the veins of the Son of Man and Son of God, Jesus Christ. That blood that cleanses us from all sin. That blood that strengthens us in the renewed life that we live in faith in the Son of God. That blood that flowed from His cross, to strengthen you when soon you also may be required to bear your own for His Name’s sake. Beloved, I pray that Jesus Christ returns to being the first love in your life over everything— family, career, hobbies, relationships, money or lack thereof, all of those things that would vie to be first for you and thus become your god instead of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will empower you to do this. Don’t be caught being obedient to the teachings of man and in doing so neglect your first love, Jesus.

Remember what Jesus tells the Church at Smyrna:

Revelation 2:9–11 ESV

“ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

Scoffers? No Believers!

Way back in the First Century, there were already those unbelievers sitting on the sidelines casting stones at God’s people. Peter tells us:

2 Peter 3:3–13 ESV

knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

The martyrdom of Christians today does not mean that Jesus has forgotten us or cannot or will not keep His promise. Rather, this suffering is truly a sign that Jesus is coming soon. It is a call to repentance. It is a call to worship. It is a call to life for each of us.

Be ready. The counsel that Paul gives Pastor Timothy is goof for all of us to hear. I will close with these words:

2 Timothy 4:1–8 ESV

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.