Post by Jeffrey Olver on Jun 24, 2006 0:47:38 GMT -5
When Dan posted a brief article by Ray Comfort and I saw the scriptures from Acts about Paul...The many, many men and women who have gone before us came to mind, and I started to write and pour my heart out. I thought many of you might appreciate it...so...here ya go.
When I look back through history and read the accounts of Jesus preaching to thousands, Stephen’s martyrdom, Paul at Mars Hill, Paul and Silas in jail, John Wesley preaching on his father’s grave, George Whitefield preaching to tens of thousands without amplification in the fields of America, William Booth outside of some dingy pub in dark England…
…I can almost imagine them and many others stationed at points along the broad way, while they themselves are standing on the narrow. And as this smooth avenue winds its way through time toward the entrance of hellish damnation, these men cry out from their respective eras where the wide and welcoming gate stands open, “Turn back! Turn back! Enter in at the straight gate! Take the narrow road! There’s danger ahead! Turn, oh turn!”
When I remember those men of God, their exploits for the Kingdom of God seem so far away; sometimes they seem like mere stories. It doesn’t seem real that crowds would fervently hate them so. There’s something unearthly about the ways these men were afflicted, mocked, held in derision, beat, jailed and even sometimes killed.
Some places you can hear the echoes of these men preaching. Some places you can see their footprints. And when you read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, you know these accounts are not mere stories. Their testimony rings true in your spirit.
There’s something noble about them. Paul and Silas and Stephen. Wesley and Whitefield and Booth. Savanarola and Hughs and Tyndale. Let’s not forget the many unnamed, unknown asleep in Christ who wear a martyr’s crown.
Even though, like Jesus, they were despised and rejected of men – drug through the streets, fallen under the mean stomping of the convicted towns, verbally assaulted by those once thought to be loved and trusted ones of the same faith, stoned, burnt alive, crucified, forced to swallow rough brillo-like rags, stretched by racks, devoured by beasts and mercilessly murdered – they were mercifully ushered before the King of Kings where they now worship.
Oh what everlasting joy must be theirs to present before the resurrected Lamb the glorious reward of His suffering! To stand triumphantly aside the Lord and present every man who heard their words and came to the cross, perfect in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28)! The honor, dare we think it, to see justice wrought on those who rebelled, fought, slandered and killed – not as we see justice, tainted with a sense of vengeance, but divine and holy.
Oh for the fire of William Booth and his troops, who would at times march through a town, wearing their certificate of death; a printed sign reading, “I AM DEAD TO PUBLIC OPINION.”
Do we dare alter the timeless message they preached? Do we dare tread on their testimony for the sake of not treading on anyone’s toes? Do we dare dim the light of Jesus Christ, the same light these men of old shone into the dark, dark world? Do we dare treat lightly the burden of souls, souls, souls as they march past us on the smooth road to hell, for the sake of making public opinion lighter for us to bear?
When I look back through history and read the accounts of Jesus preaching to thousands, Stephen’s martyrdom, Paul at Mars Hill, Paul and Silas in jail, John Wesley preaching on his father’s grave, George Whitefield preaching to tens of thousands without amplification in the fields of America, William Booth outside of some dingy pub in dark England…
…I can almost imagine them and many others stationed at points along the broad way, while they themselves are standing on the narrow. And as this smooth avenue winds its way through time toward the entrance of hellish damnation, these men cry out from their respective eras where the wide and welcoming gate stands open, “Turn back! Turn back! Enter in at the straight gate! Take the narrow road! There’s danger ahead! Turn, oh turn!”
When I remember those men of God, their exploits for the Kingdom of God seem so far away; sometimes they seem like mere stories. It doesn’t seem real that crowds would fervently hate them so. There’s something unearthly about the ways these men were afflicted, mocked, held in derision, beat, jailed and even sometimes killed.
Some places you can hear the echoes of these men preaching. Some places you can see their footprints. And when you read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, you know these accounts are not mere stories. Their testimony rings true in your spirit.
There’s something noble about them. Paul and Silas and Stephen. Wesley and Whitefield and Booth. Savanarola and Hughs and Tyndale. Let’s not forget the many unnamed, unknown asleep in Christ who wear a martyr’s crown.
Even though, like Jesus, they were despised and rejected of men – drug through the streets, fallen under the mean stomping of the convicted towns, verbally assaulted by those once thought to be loved and trusted ones of the same faith, stoned, burnt alive, crucified, forced to swallow rough brillo-like rags, stretched by racks, devoured by beasts and mercilessly murdered – they were mercifully ushered before the King of Kings where they now worship.
Oh what everlasting joy must be theirs to present before the resurrected Lamb the glorious reward of His suffering! To stand triumphantly aside the Lord and present every man who heard their words and came to the cross, perfect in Christ Jesus (Colossians 1:28)! The honor, dare we think it, to see justice wrought on those who rebelled, fought, slandered and killed – not as we see justice, tainted with a sense of vengeance, but divine and holy.
Oh for the fire of William Booth and his troops, who would at times march through a town, wearing their certificate of death; a printed sign reading, “I AM DEAD TO PUBLIC OPINION.”
Do we dare alter the timeless message they preached? Do we dare tread on their testimony for the sake of not treading on anyone’s toes? Do we dare dim the light of Jesus Christ, the same light these men of old shone into the dark, dark world? Do we dare treat lightly the burden of souls, souls, souls as they march past us on the smooth road to hell, for the sake of making public opinion lighter for us to bear?