Oh, what a beautiful thing, a precious thing, a wonderful thing: to love our Lord and to follow humbly in the way of Jesus! We cannot be defeated. We Christians must be faithful. Ritual of piercing the ear of a slave who refuses to leave his master after 1 Corinthians 15:1-58, Denomination: Matthew 16:24-25: If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 2014.04.20 HE AROSE and you can too! 2:10). In Jesus we pray. As we think of Gods love, what could we do but be faithful? Indeed, the devil will throw some of Faith, trust, commitment brings God into our lives and into our scene; and faith knows absolutely nothing about defeat. Remember, they considered the Christians to be atheists because they didnt have any statues, they didnt have idols. Elishas dedication to Elijah might And they had a little boy born to the home and they named him JohnJohn Fawcett. And our Lord, bless these to whom the Holy Spirit makes appeal this morning; some to put their lives with us in the church, some to follow our blessed Lord Jesus in baptism [Matthew 3:13-17], some to accept Thee as Savior; bless each one. Thats the cry in each one of these churches. Will you be willing to be faithful when youre misunderstood as a Christian? If they refuse to swear by Caesar, if they refuse to worship our gods, then we must punish them., Polycarp replied, For 86 years I have been His servant and He has done me no wrong. Centuries earlier, during the period when Rome was struggling with Carthage for supremacy, Smyrna sided with the Romans. Youre faithful. (Revelation 2:8-11) And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us (Heb. 15:58). Maybe take a half hour to read it. Suffering. You, too, can read that. As we remember the words of Scripture, we will be able to fight off temptation and thus remain faithful. But, if in a household there was a slave, and when time came, when that seventh year came and the slave was freeif he so loved his master or she so loved her mistress, that he did not want to leave, then they went through this kind of a simple ritual. Probably dates to around 108 A.D., that is shortly after the death of Ignatius. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live. Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid (September 25, 2015) IF we are in CHRIST. His salary was less than two hundred dollars a year. Because the one who overcomes this present, temporary, fleeting pain will not be pained by the second and everlasting death. These things I command you, that you love one another [John 15:17]. It is called a martyr church. He lived to be 86 years old, and for the second half of his life he served as the bishop of Smyrna, which we just read is the second city in Revelation, today the modern city of Izmir in Turkey. Any psychologist, any psychologist, will tell you that one of the driving forces in human life is to be acceptableespecially to be acclaimed among our peers. A The same thing is true of those in Hebrews 11. [Matthew 19:20; Mark 10:20]. EASTER SUNDAY 2014 SERMON For the child of God, heaven is our ultimate destination. Remember this is a letter from whom? Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world (2 Tim. Pastor Wayne Tindale He knows the fear that you have. read more, Scripture: May angels attend you in the way as you come. The major influence for me on this study of Genesis is The Genesis Record by Henry Morris. . But faith has ten thousand answers for every how. This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at the Alum Creek church of Christ in Alum Creek, West Virginia. by How can I blaspheme my King who saved me? There proconsul continue to press him to recant Christ and swear by Caesar and Polycarp refused. It was a difficult situation. Repent. WebSermons by Bible: Sermons by Category: Sermons by Topic: Sermons by Speaker: Sermons by Language: Sermons by Date: Staff Picks: Comments, ALL -0 sec: Top Sermons: Online Bible: Hymnal: Daily Reading: About | $1 Signup! The connection of this passage will help us to understand its meaning. 5:17; James 1:12: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trail for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him. The third thing that had happened is by the end of the first century, some Jews had compromised with Rome. But I do not have a child and I am old and my wife is old. Tempted to disbelieve the Word of God. But heres the second thing that had happened in 70 A.D. with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple, Judaism and Christianity start to form as two different paths and two different religions, no longer just another sect, Judaism had lots of sects, but as a different religion. He comes with comfort, and notice He comes with commands. That grace, should that come, and for most of us, maybe all of us, it wont come like that, but when the opposition comes, when the moment comes at your workplace, youre going to go along with this program or who knows what happens to your job. Our Lord is saying, you be faithful and true even if it costs your life, and I will give you a crown [Revelation 2:10], stephanos, crown; the word Stephen, and you read about him and his martyrdom just now [Acts 7:54-60]. There was a price on the head of our Lord. If we live as Christians simply to avoid death, we are not living as Jesus would have us live. Number two let us be faithful even in our limited kinds of persecution. Evangelical/Non-Denominational. Theme: Show the faith of these two great patriarchs. You cannot fail in Godnever, ever, ever. I hope you have that somewhere in your regular rhythm. It was a way for Rome to save, kind of save face and yet not have to go through this extermination of all the Jews, so well let them get by on a technicality. Romans 6:10-23, Denomination: Once they become a Christians, they begin visiting the sick and shut-in but its just too much trouble so they quit. We fail to put God first in our lives-we dont base all our decisions based on what he would want, we neglect to mention the Gospel to our family and friends. More were killed by other religious groups, and far and away, most of those Christian martyrs were killed by the state, some 55 million out of those 70 million. 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4 King James Version (KJV) < Previous Verse Next Verse > View Chapter Revelation 2:10 Context Fearing death is natural, but Jesus means to set us free. And worse than strange, is thought hateful. All of us do. Well be here listening. It is one of the truths of life. We dont have a weak God. We are given by choice, by volition, to our Lord and Master forever. All seven of the churches of Asia have some castigation from our Lord except this church. Isaiah 38:1-8, James 1:2-4, 1 John 5:14-15, 1 Peter 3:12, Denomination: View all Sermons Faithful Unto Death Series Contributed by Allen James on Sep 29, 2011 (message contributor) (rate this sermon) | 6,507 views Scripture: That means we are never turning back. That is a big number. Why didnt the Lord say that to Zaccheus? living faith, consumed with one desire to please Him(John 12:42-43), 1. Revelation chapter 2, beginning at verse 8. repudiation of the world, a. Jesus Or suppose I were to stand in this pulpit and lecture on the humanities, or any subject you would choose to name: philosophy, psychology, medicine, astronomy, anything. He said, Now if you want to learn the doctrine of Christianity, name a day and give me a hearing. The proconsul told Polycarp, No, persuade the people of your Christianity. Polycarp replied that he had been taught to respect the rulers and authorities and he would be happy to meet with the proconsul, but this was a lawless mob and he wasnt going to waste his time., So the proconsul said, I have wild beasts if you dont change your mind. Polycarp said, Call for them. The proconsul said, You will be consumed by the fire. Polycarp said, You threaten with a fire that burns only briefly and after just a little while is extinguished, for you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. General Washington needed information concerning the British troops. However, when they entered Rahab's house, they found a woman who had already been touched by the Spirit and In fact, we do. Almost half of those were murdered, starved, died in prison camps in the Soviet Union. This morning, we want to examine the biblical teachings concerning our faithfulness and call us to faithfulness to God. Lets get a sense of that words meaning in And when the young man asked, Master, all of these commandments have I kept from my youth, but my heart is still hungry and empty, what lack I yet that I might obtain eternal life? I dont want to suffer. The Give it up. I absolutely love how the story ends. Committed to a belief in another world(Colossians 3:2, 1 Corinthians 15:19), A. Clarence When we suffer, were tempted to doubt Gods goodness, to question His sovereignty, to find Him less glorious, to wonder if Hes left us or forsaken us. Because if were reading Scripture, well have the power to overcome temptation. But after thirty-nine years, standing here in this pulpit, there are thousands and thousands who come every Lords day listening to what? Currently 160,000 Christians, by one estimate, are martyred every year. In fact, Polycarp was a disciple of John, who wrote this book of Revelation. 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