The Third Reich And The Blood Of The Martyrs Part 1

Ford Motor simply means with this faithful witness maintains that witness at the cost of his or her life.

Nazi Germany subverted the church but not every believer. Many gave their lives rather than bow the knee to the swastika, Moody Church in Chicago this is with Dr. Sir, whose clear teaching helps us make it across the finish line 3rd for Russ.

The days of the easy life may be drawing to a close. Tell us about the third right in the blood of the martyrs. Of course, the point is simply this, your writing what said namely that there were many Christians who did not bow to the swastika when I was in Buchenwald concentration camp there. I was gratified to see the number of pastors whose names were on these forsaken cells. If I might put it that way, who were faithful to the gospel, who suffered for it and who died in Buchenwald. The question is whether or not we have the courage to live for Christ. No matter what I would ask you a question and I'm going to be answering that question at the end of this broadcast. Can you name the city and the church were Ludwig Müller, Hitler's hand-picked man to run the German church.

Where was he installed all that's a question that I'm going to be answering. I've written a book entitled Hitler's cross how the cross was used, to promote the Nazi agenda. So many lessons that we have to learn very interested in receiving this resource you can go to RTW offer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 and be sure to listen to the end of this broadcast right answer the question that I have posed.

Sometimes the gospel of Christ has to be communicated in more than just word. In fact, unless the gospel message is back by deeds.

The words have a hollow ring and there are times when even the deeds are not enough and only martyrdom really gets the message across in the 19th century there was a man by the name of Michael Garten who was excommunicated from his church who said these words. There are times in which lectures and publications no longer suffice to communicate the necessary truth. At such times the deeds and the sufferings of the saints must create a new elephant that in order to reveal again the secret of the truth.

It is the suffering and the martyrdom of the saints that reveals the new alphabet. Many of you will know of course that this is in a series of messages in which we have looked at the third right through the lens of Scripture today were going to talk about the biblical doctrine of suffering and martyrdom. Dietrich Bonhoeffer you know that he understood the martyrdom all too well and was put to death in the concentration camp in floss Berg in a lecture he said we must not be surprised if once again, our churches will return to the time when the blood of the martyrs will be required. But even if we have the courage and faith to spell that this blood will not be as innocent or as clear as that of the first martyrs. Much of the Guild will lie in our own blood. He said, and so it was a question that we need to ask is what would've happened if all the pastors and their congregations in the land of Germany would've stood against Hitler, Martin the Müller, who himself didn't do just that said that there were about 14,000 pastors in Germany and of course that many congregations he says at the beginning of the Jewish persecution. If we had seen that it was Jesus who was persecuted the least of these are brethren. If we had confessed him for all I know God would have stood with us and the whole sequence of events might have taken a different course.

And if we had been willing to go with him to death.

The number of victims might have been only 10,000. We don't know that for sure, but that's a possibility, but every once in a while God gives to his church, and it is much more frequent than we think the opportunity of declaring its faith through martyrdom. Yes, even through death.

What we like to do today is to discuss the concept of suffering, martyrdom, and we do so for a number of different reasons. First of all, are you aware that there are more people who have been put to death for the cause of Christ in this century that in all the previous centuries of church history combined. We forget that tens of thousands and millions put to death under the hand of communism, and in other parts of the world revolution has tried to stamp out the Christian faith. Also what we need to do is as a church understand that God expects us to suffer because the Bible says that all will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. It is the badge of the church. Love comes first suffering always is a close second. When I was in Morocco a number of years ago discover that there were only 200 known believers who had converted from the Muslim faith to Christianity. Someone made the statement and I think they were accurate, that until the church understands suffering and martyrdom.

It will not grow in countries like that because it is only when Christians refrain from being silent and declare themselves.

It is then that the church begins to grow into quote the words of Tertullian it is then that the blood of the martyrs becomes the seed of the church. What is a martyr.

By the way a martyr is someone who deliberately chooses the path of death. It is a choice, strictly speaking, the 6 million Jews were killed in concentration camps were not martyrs and the reason is because this was not something they chose. It was not the way that they had an option. They had the responsibility of simply being born with the wrong last name and it is that that put them to death but a martyr is someone who could remain silent. A martyr is someone who could deny the faith and who could live but nevertheless chooses to die. Another characteristic of a martyr is that he has a cause that he believes is so great that life itself is not considered to be ultimately valuable Scripture says in the book of Revelation regarding the martyrs during the time of the Antichrist. They counted not to their lives. Dear unto themselves. They believe that there was a reason to die. That was more important than their own life now. Martyrs have come for many different causes. There have been political martyrs there been religious martyrs also. There have been those who have died for freedom. All of us. I think remember the students who intend them in square stood up against those tanks and those tanks rolled over them.

Those students were dying for the cause of freedom. Let me ask you something.

Do you think this morning that you are sitting next to somebody who would be willing to be a martyr if the times called for it. There is a man by the name of David gushy, who for years has studied the rescuers during the Holocaust. That is, those non-Jews who stuck up for the Jews. People like Corrie 10 boom and her family, and he has discovered that there are about 12,000 that had been recognized to be rescuers.

That is, they took in Jews. They fed Jews.

They hid Jews, they did whatever they could do to spare the lives of Jewish people. In fact, the estimate is, however, that even though only 12,000 have been specifically identified by name. The estimate is that there were about 100,000 of these rescuers who stood against the system risk their lives and were willing to die for their cause. Interestingly again. It is an estimate that every rescuer rescued at least one Jew.

So there were about 100,000 Jews who survived the Holocaust who would not have done so word not for those who are willing to put their lives on the line and possibly become martyrs. The cause that they believed in what is a rescuer like and in studying a rescuer. We really study the characteristics of a martyr because many of these people knew that their life was at risk doing this well. According to Mr. gushy. First of all, they come from diverse backgrounds. There are rich and poor, and there are young and old, and it is very difficult to predict in advance who might be a rescuer and who might not pay.

Secondly, he noticed that they usually came from stable home homes in which there was teaching regarding justice and social problems being sold through love and carrying, and the willingness of one individual to sacrifice for it another and their motivation. Well, they had a variety of reasons, but one of those that were most important on the list is that when they knew someone who was a Jew. Perhaps he was their doctor or their attorney or their store manager when they knew someone who was a Jew. They were more willing to risk their lives for a person like that and for someone whom they didn't know and that squares with the biblical data when the Scripture says that a man is willing to lay down his alive for his friends. No greater love have a man than this, that the man be willing to die for his friends. And then Jesus said you are my friends if you do whatever I command you, the stronger our friendships in the church in our families and among the body, the greater the degree of sacrifice we are willing to make on their behalf so they were motivated through personal friendships through group influence through families through churches and of course one of the things that you might guess it was much easier to be a martyr. If, as a church. Everyone agreed to be martyrs. Everyone agreed to be rescuers. It was much easier for individuals to sign on that to stand for that which was right and to do it alone. Now this man says that one of the most universal characteristics of rescuers is that they do not want to be thanked, they just consider that they were doing their duty, and of course there were many Christians among the rescuers who saw in Jesus Christ as their pattern. They asked the question what would Jesus do, and the answer was clear. If someone came knocking at his door.

Would he save them or would he turn them out onto the street and that for many believers was the motivation to become rescuers and many of those rescuers. Of course ended up becoming martyrs what we want to do today. As always, is to turn to the Scripture and we want to study today not only a theology of martyrdom but a theology of suffering.

And I invite you to take your Bibles and turn to the book of Revelation chapter 2 Revelation chapter 2 where we have the story of the church at Smyrna that very name Smyrna has in it the word murderer, which was a spice that was used. As you know, oftentimes, and it had a very beautiful smell connected with the bark of a certain tree was taken and crushed and it had a most pleasant aroma murderer used oftentimes even to embolden bodies, but murder symbolic of suffering and the church in Smyrna knew all about it. It was dangerous to be a Christian at Smyrna. The reason is because this town competed with many others to build a temple to Tiberius and there was a bust of Caesar and everyone was expected to take some incense to burn attend to acknowledge Caesar as Lord, and of course most of the Christians didn't do that and they paid for that severely through suffering. We pick up the text chapter 2 verse eight Jesus is writing a letter to the church at Smyrna to the angel of the church in Smyrna write the first and the last to his dad and us come to life.

He says this I know your tribulation and your poverty but you are rich and the blasphemy of those who are Jews and say they are Jews but are not and they are from the synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. Let's pass through this passage of Scripture rather quickly, just noting some of the characteristics of this suffering church. What does Jesus say about them.

First of all, he says I know your poverty. Smyrna was a very cosmopolitan city with lots of business and industry.

Why where the Christians so poor what's because they couldn't cheat like others and therefore they missed out on some of the fat profits but more importantly than that, there were those within the city who wouldn't do business with them. They were ostracized they were spoken against, and they were poor because they loved it. Jesus what is. Never forget that there are people today who are poor because they love Jesus.

Jesus that I know your poverty.

I also know that you are experiencing slander. Notice what the text of Scripture says here. Those who say that they are Jews, but they are blossoming. You need to understand that there were Jews who were exempt from the need to worship Caesar a special dispensation was given to them and so they used this freedom to harass the Christians to tattle long to make up lies about them and Jesus said that these Jews are really from the synagogue of Satan. What a strong term but the Christians had to endure the grief they had to put up with the harassment they had to put up with all of the things that were said about them that were so completely untrue and they had to endure those allies. Jesus said I know that you are enduring that the notice prison.

He says the devil will cast some of you into prison, and the prisons in those days were very different from the prisons that we have today. They didn't get three meals in prison. Perhaps a slice of bread from time to time in a cup of water. A very messy and dirty and smelly and yet you look at the history of the church and you discover that prisons in Caesarea and Jerusalem and Philippi and elsewhere, those dirty places were sanctified by the presence of believing Christians who were there, and who prayed and who stayed there and many of them died in those messy places Jesus said the devil is in a cast some of you into prison and next notice the faithful unto death. Some of you will die, and some did in the history of the church. There's a man by the name of Polycarp was the Bishop of the church in Smyrna in 155, he became a very famous martyr at the age of 86 he was asked to deny Christ, and he said I cannot deny him 80 and six years he has been faithful to me.

I cannot now be unfaithful to him. So what happened is they brought him to the place of execution they were going to burn him and they thought that they would have to tie him to some would but he told him that that was unnecessary because he said I'm not gonna run away. I will have the grace to die here and he made a very famous speech in which he said you threatened me with fire that burns for a short time for you do not know that the fire that awaits the wicked is coming to you.

Why are you waiting, do what you will with me and he died. So Jesus is saying to this church, behold, is some of you are going to really suffer.

What I'd like to do in the next few moments there left to me is to give you five characteristics of Christ because you see what Jesus does is he becomes the hub of our suffering when we begin to suffer. He becomes the center of it all. Everything begins to point to him and he makes sense of what we are experiencing and the outline that I have all today happens just happens just like Moses, or rather Aaron said that he threw the gold into the furnace and out came a golden calf in the very same way.

I just threw some words together and they all began with a P and you'll notice that they are there in your outline that is published in your bulletin. Let's go number one. The presence of Christ. Notice in the text. I know your tribulation and your poverty. I know it. Your ways are not hidden from me. I understand what you are going through. There is no detail of your pain that escapes my notice. I know I know and I say to you today who are going through a trial. It may not be martyrdom. In fact, not a one of those who's here today has been martyred as a requirement actually to come to the church but God knows your suffering.

You've heard me say it before that when Stephen was stoned the first Christian martyr throughout the whole New Testament, you find that Jesus is always seated at the right hand of God the father.

This is the only time when it says he was standing at the right hand of God the father, as Stephen had the privilege of looking into heaven, he saw Christ awaiting him and it's almost as if Jesus was saying, be faithful, Stephen. Hang in soon we will be together but be faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. How different trials look from heaven, will my friend, this is Pastor Luther I always like to emphasize that we have to live in light of eternity and of course even though I've been walking with God for many years. I'm still learning that lesson at the beginning of the program. I asked a question. Ludwig Mueller was Hitler's hand picked man to run the German church.

The question is where was he installed well the correct answer actually is in Wittenberg, the very church where Luther nailed his 95 thesis.

You know it's been my privilege to lead tours to the sites of the Reformation, so I've been in that church.

Many many times Von Hoffer and the molar were also present their bun Hoffer whispered in the molar at the back of the church you have now witnessed the death of the church in Germany, you know, there's so many lessons that we have to learn. I've written a book entitled Hitler's cross how the cross of Christ was used.

To promote the Nazi agenda very important and you know for a gift of any amount. This resource can be yours. Here is what you do go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or if you prefer you can call us and I hope that you have an opportunity to get a pen or pencil to write this down 1-888-218-9337 so matter of fact you can pick up that phone and call right now is time now for another chance for you to ask Pastor Luther a question about the Bible or the Christian life for many believers. Life becomes tedious, even painful. They begin to long for their eternal home. David is one such listener. He asks this. What is your opinion about a Christian praying to God to go ahead and take him home to heaven. I'm ready to go and have been asking God for some time to take me home. Is this a scriptural thing to do or to pray for. Yes, I think it is scriptural in a while I'm speaking about this. My mother is 102. She greatly desires that she would go home to glory and even though I've not heard her pray that she will. I think that there is no doubt but that she prays that regularly you know the apostle pulses in Philippians chapter 1 that he desired to be with Christ, which is far better so I can imagine that if you desire to be with Christ you're going to pray that you're going to be with Christ. But the bottom line is this, you must always let God make the final decision. Don't try to hurry the process because God is not lost your address as you might think that he has.

He has a purpose for you. So what you do is you share with God, the desire of your heart to be with him, but at the same time as the apostle Paul did you accept the fact that God makes that decision and pulses to abide in the flesh is much more needful for you. I want to die. But God has a purpose for me. Let God be God.

Thank you David and thank you Pastor Luther if you'd like to hear your question answered.

Go to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor Luther or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us at the running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 good runners trained to win their races for believers. Training for life's race includes lessons in how to die. Some modern-day marketers gave their lives during the oppression in Nazi Germany and these people can show us how to die faithful to Christ. Next time lessons on suffering from Jesus words to the church at Smyrna make plans to listen for Pastor Erwin Luther this is Dave McAllister going to win is sponsored by the Moody church