Why were the martyrs willing to die?
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death,” Revelation 12:11.
(Preached in Tavistock Free Presbyterian Church)
Yesterday, at a gathering organised by the Protestant Alliance at a beautiful monument erected in 1909 in Denmark Street, Exeter in Devon, we joined a group of believers to honour the memory of two martyrs who were burned to death by Rome. The martyrs were Thomas Benet, who was martyred on January 10th, 1531 and Agnes Prest, who was burned on August 15th, 1557.
One was a Cambridge scholar who was a friend and companion of such men as William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale. The other was an uneducated housewife from Launceston in Cornwall.
Both courageously bore testimony to the saving grace of the Lord jesus Christ even unto death.
Those who, like them, died under the cruel persecutions instigated by the devil, did not end their days on earth in defeat but rather it is said they “overcame him”, that is, the devil. They died beneath the cruel tortures of the devil's agents, but they died in victory. They were not overcome but rather they conquered.
They were faced with the choice of denying Christ and His truth or dying a cruel death. For them, denying Christ was more bitter than the worst tortures man could devise.
Death was not a defeat at the hands of the enemies of their Saviour but the most glorious triumph over those enemies. |
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