The word martyr means witness. A martyr is someone who lays his or her life down for their beliefs- even to the point of physical death if necessary. And this serves as a witness to the unbelieving.

Jesus Himself was martyred. He laid His life down to give us life. The first recorded martyr in the New Testament, after Christ, was Stephen. He was stoned to death for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Acts 7:54-60 (KJV)

Persecution then hit the church in Acts 8. All 12 of the original apostles died as martyrs, except John, who experienced persecution and torture but died a natural death.

One of John’s beloved disciples was a man named Polycarp. At age 86, he was burned alive. He had a chance to denounce Jesus, but he refused. Historians even tell us that when men came to arrest him, he fed those who came to take him away- then he left with them. What a witness, for sure!

The early church was persecuted heavily for 300 years under the Roman authorities, until such treatment was banned by the Emperor Constantine. However, right now, we see more Christians being currently martyred for faith in Christ, than in the entire 300 year period of the early church. Each year, it increases worldwide.

Through the ages, many have been killed for their faith. Some were martyred for translating, printing, and publishing the Bible. Others, like Deitrich Bonhoeffer, resisted tyrannical governments. Bonheffer was one of the few German pastors who stood against the Nazis in World War II. And as a result, Hitler had him hanged. Persecution has never gone away because the devil hates the church and does all he can to bring people against her.

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. I Corinthians 12:26 (KJV)

My point is that we must pray for those being persecuted today. When one part of the body of Christ hurts, we all hurt. Their suffering affects all believers. We are called to pray for the protection and deliverance of the persecuted church. Pray for their release. And if, for some reason, they are not released, pray for them to have the courage needed to stand strong and not deny Christ. We cannot fail to pray for them. If we were the ones suffering, we would need others to pray for us.

Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. Hebrews 13:13 (New International Version, NIV)

None of us have been called to take the easy road. We must all be willing to lay our lives down for Christ. He did it for us, and we are to follow His example. Whether we live or whether we die, we are to do everything for the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31).

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:20-21 (New International Version, NIV)

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Additional Reading on the Subject:

FOXE’S BOOK Of MARTYRS

JESUS FREAKS by DC Talk & Voice of the Martyrs

TRIED BY FIRE by William J. Bennett

MIRACLES AND THE SUPERNATURAL THROUGHOUT CHURCH HISTORY by Tony Cooke

BONHOEFFER: PASTOR, MARTYR, PROPHET, SPY by Eric Metaxas