Martyrs, Martin Luther, Missionaries, and Members of LCBC

This Fall has been a great journey through the letter of 1 Peter. Peter has been writing to believers that are dispersed across the Roman Governed lands..... they are most likely experiencing New Life in Christ, and new found persecution for that change of belief compared to the world around them.

Peter encourages these believers....as he encourages us that we have a Hope in this Earthly life that is eternal.... in our faith in Jesus Christ, to spend eternity with him.....so come what may..... we are following Jesus here and now because we know how the story ends.....

1 Peter 4:19 “19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

This morning, I want to walk through these groups of people and see if this verse applies to them..... our goal this morning...... Who are they that Peter is talking about?

Martyrs

a Martyr is a person who is killed because of their religious beliefs.

Revelation 6:9

Revelation 6:9 ESV

9 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.

Stephen in the book of Acts - Acts 7

Peter -

Jerome saith that he was crucified, his head being down and his feet upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he said) unworthy to be crucified after the same form and manner as the Lord was.

Paul -

Coming to Paul instructing the people, desired him to pray for them, that they might believe; who told them that shortly after they should believe and be baptized at His sepulcher. This done, the soldiers came and led him out of the city to the place of execution, where he, after his prayers made, gave his neck to the sword.

Jude

The brother of James, was commonly called Thaddeus. He was crucified at Edessa, A.D. 72.

Bartholomew

Preached in several countries, and having translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India, he propagated it in that country. He was at length cruelly beaten and then crucified by the impatient idolaters.

Simon

Surnamed Zelotes, preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and even in Britain, in which latter country he was crucified, A.D. 74.

Thomas

Called Didymus, preached the Gospel in Parthia and India, where exciting the rage of the pagan priests, he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear.

Luke

The evangelist, was the author of the Gospel which goes under his name. He traveled with Paul through various countries, and is supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree, by the idolatrous priests of Greece.

John

The "beloved disciple," was brother to James the Great. The churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira, were founded by him. From Ephesus he was ordered to be sent to Rome, where it is affirmed he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. He escaped by miracle, without injury. Domitian afterwards banished him to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. Nerva, the successor of Domitian, recalled him. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.

St. Mark

Was born of Jewish parents of the tribe of Levi. He is supposed to have been converted to Christianity by Peter, whom he served as an amanuensis, and under whose inspection he wrote his Gospel in the Greek language. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, at the great solemnity of Serapis their idol, ending his life under their merciless hands.

1 Peter 4:19 “19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Martin Luther and the Reformers

On this day..... 504 years ago...... A hammer was striking a nail into a church door in Gernamy..... that sound would be the beginning of a reformation that would change the face of the catholic church and lead to what we experience now at LCBC!

The Bible was translated into common language

The worship service was put into common language

Clergy/Pastors could marry

Priesthood of all believers - everyone is gifted in the church to serve God and one anotehr.

****Most of all, Luther was convinced that salvation in Jesus was by grace through faith alone!****

Martin Luther - Brought before the council at the Diet of Worms….. Called a heretic, excommunicated from the catholic church, and given a bounty on his head!

"Unless I am convinced by Scripture and plain reason - I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other - my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen."

Persecution in Germany because of Luther’s influence.

Those who were taken experienced the most cruel tortures that infernal imaginations could invent; and by their constancy evinced that a real Christian can surmount every difficulty, and despite every danger acquire a crown of martyrdom.

1 Peter 4:19 “19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Missionaries

1. David Brainerd: Pioneering a Legacy in Missions

Born in 1718, David Brainerd was one of the first missionaries to translate and carry the good news of Jesus to the Native Americans of New Jersey in their own language until the day of his death in 1747.

2. William Carey: Pioneer to India and Father of Modern Missions

William Carey was born in 1761 and is often called the father of the modern missions movement because of his forty-one years of service on the mission field until he passed away in 1834. He is known for translating the entire Bible into Bengali and transforming culture through business and education.

3. Adoniram and Ann Judson: Pioneers of Overseas Missions

Adoniram and Ann Judson were the first American missionaries who were sent overseas to serve on the mission field in both India and Burma—now known as Myanmar. Both Adoniram and Ann worked on translating the Bible into Burmese until Adoniram was thrown into prison when accused of being a spy during the first Anglo-Burmese War.

4. David Livingstone: Missionary, Abolitionist, and Explorer to Africa

David Livingstone was a Scottish missionary, slave abolitionist, and physician during the mid-19th century.

5. John G. Paton: Working Among the Cannibals

Born in Scotland in 1824, John G. Paton was a Christian missionary to the cannibals on the New Hebrides Islands of the South Pacific until he died in 1907. His life was filled with trials, as his first wife and their child soon died after his arrival on the island, and many times he had to flee for his life from the natives.

6. Hudson Taylor: Founder of the China Inland Mission

James Hudson Taylor was the first Christian missionary to China and spent fifty-one years working to bring the gospel to those who had never heard the name of Jesus in their own language.

7. Mary Slessor: Pioneer Missionary to Nigeria

Mary Slessor was born in 1848 and was a Scottish missionary to the Efik people of Nigeria.

8. Amy Carmichael: Mother to India

Born in 1867, Amy Carmichael was an Irish missionary to India. She is known for opening an orphanage after rescuing children from being trafficked in the Hindu temples.

9. Jim and Elisabeth Elliot: Undivided Devotion to God and the Unreached

Jim and Elisabeth Elliot met as students at Wheaton College in Illinois. He convinced his four friends to join him as missionaries in reaching the Auca Indians along the Curray River in Ecuador. In 1956, all five missionaries were martyred by the tribe.

‘Almost 25,000 Southern Baptist missionaries have been sent to 185 countries around the world since Southern Baptists sent their first missionaries to China in 1845. Countless millions have heard and responded to the gospel. Yet, millions still have never heard.”

1 Peter 4:19 “19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Members of LCBC

1 Peter 4:19 “19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

Do not be surprised verse 12

Rejoice verse 13

Do not be ashamed v.16

Glorify God verse 16

Trust v.19

Do Good v.19

Every follower of Christ is called to be one of “those” in this verse...... 1 Peter 4:19 “19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.”

We do not seek martyrdom - We are called to die to ourselves and live for Christ - to take up our cross daily and follow him.

We hold fast to the Word of God and are called to “do Good” as the reformers did.

We are called to take the Gospel to every tribe and every nation like missionaries do...... not dependent on our safety and security....but upon the call to make disciples of all nations from the mouth of Jesus!

Here is how I think we as followers of Jesus in America will face this truth.....

In the days before the American revolution...... our soon to be U.S. leadership was writing to each other about the coming revolution.....and amidst that were these pesky Baptists......men and women who were being thrown in jail because of their spreading about and teaching and requiring that faith in Jesus meant you were to be obedient in baptism by immersion....

Eventually, as a new country, we recieved the Bill of religious rights that we today still benefit from...... So, how are we to expect persecution, when our country provides in a bill of rights that we have freedom of religion?

Being a Christian will no longer be the “norm” in the United States. We will find that as our country continues to get older, we will look more and more like our European predecessors and our country will drift further and further away from being a nation built upon faith.

We will find as a church that it will become more and more difficult, and possibly illegal in the sight of our government to preach and teach the truths of God’s Word.

You may find yourself without a job or without a job opportunity because of your faith.

You will live a Christian life that continues to be more and more countercultural..... Being a Christian will never equate to being republican or democrat..... I think it will become increasingly difficult for us to navigate the political environment.

What must we do? How do we change the course of our future?........ We find ourselves.... here at LCBC..... members who have confessed Jesus.....

1 Peter 4:19 ESV

19 Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.