If I Die…Risking Death to Live for Jesus
The persecuted church and our response.
Hebrews(1) (Part of the Special Speaker(4) series)
by Vernon Brewer(1) on April 27, 2025 (Sunday Morning(52))
Growth(1), Persecution(1), Purify(1), Strengthen(1), Unifying(1)
If I Die…Risking Death to Live for Jesus
Word Count: 2142
Length: 25 minutes
May 17th 2022 Revision
https://vimeo.com/667952560/4cde5c8e89
If I Die…
Risking Death to Live for Jesus
Hebrews 13:3 (NLT) “Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.”
Prologue: Read the Ping story from If I Die
Dietrick Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor wrote these words in 1937: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” How could he have known that he himself would be hanged in a Nazi concentration camp ... his only crime ... he was a Christian.
The persecution of Christians around the world is more severe than ever. Because of communism, the 20th century saw more martyrs than in the previous 19 centuries combined.
• In Sudan, Christians are enslaved. In Iran, they are assassinated. In China, they are beaten to death.
• In more than 60 countries worldwide, Christians are harassed, abused, arrested, tortured, or executed specifically because of their faith.
It is estimated that every 5 minutes a Christian is killed for their faith. 1
• An average of 105,000 believers are killed each year for simply being a Christian. 2
That means in the past ten years we’ve seen more than 1 million martyrs. 3
A million martyrs are more than enough.
These are not wild rumors. Nor are these simply Christians who suffer from war or tyranny. Hundreds of millions of Christians are suffering simply because of what they believe. 4
In many ways Jesus himself was the first martyr and most of His disciples and followers suffered cruel and agonizing deaths.
Stephen was stoned to death.
James, son of Zebedee, was beheaded.
Philip was scourged, thrown into prison, and then crucified.
Matthew was slain with an ax.
James the Less was beaten, stoned, and finally had his brains dashed out.
Matthias was stoned and beheaded.
Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross.
Mark was dragged to pieces.
Peter was crucified upside down.
Paul gave his neck to the sword.
Jude was crucified.
Bartholomew was cruelly beaten and crucified.
Thomas was thrust through with a spear.
Luke was hanged on an olive tree.
Simon was crucified.
John, the “beloved disciple,” was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.5
One authority writes, “Christian persecution did not stop with the deaths of the apostles. It has continued throughout the centuries and grown dramatically in the past few decades. But make no mistake: Christian persecution is increasing and one way or another it affects us all.”6
Mark Batterson in the introduction of his book, Play the Man, tells the gripping story of the martyrdom of Polycarp, one of the early church fathers.
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
February 23, AD 155
Smyrna, Greece
Like Jesus entering Jerusalem, Polycarp was led into the city of Smyrna on a donkey. The Roman proconsul implored Polycarp to recant. ‘Swear by the genius of Caesar!’
Polycarp held his tongue, held his ground. The proconsul prodded, ‘Swear, and I will release thee; revile the Christ!’
‘Eighty and six years have I served Him,’ said Polycarp. ‘And He has done me no wrong! How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?’
The die was cast.
Polycarp was led to the center of the Colosseum where three times the proconsul announced, ‘Polycarp has confessed himself to be a Christian.’ The bloodthirsty crowd chanted for death by beast, but the proconsul opted for fire.
As his executioners seized his wrists to nail him to the stake, Polycarp stopped them. ‘He who gives me strength to endure the fire will enable me to do so without the help of your nails.’
As the pyre was lit on fire, Polycarp prayed one last prayer. ‘I bless you because you have thought me worthy of this day and this hour to be numbered among your martyrs in the cup of your Christ.’ Soon the flames engulfed him, but strangely they did not consume him. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before him, Polycarp was fireproof. Instead of the stench of burning flesh, the scent of frankincense wafted through the Colosseum.
Using a spear, the executioner stabbed Polycarp through the flames. Polycarp bled out, but not before the twelfth martyr of Smyrna had lived out John’s exhortation: be faithful even to the point of death. Polycarp died fearlessly and faithfully. And the way he died forever changed the way those eyewitnesses lived.” 7
It seems that every day we hear another news story of a church that is attacked, a missionary who is held hostage, or a Christian who has been murdered for their faith.
But why is it that so many Christians just don’t care?
One leader working with the persecuted church gives two reasons for Christians’ relative lack of interest in the plight of suffering sisters and brothers worldwide:
“American Christians, for the most part, are not interested in anything that happens outside the boundaries of the United States, and in many cases outside the boundaries of their own community ...”8
“American Christians have no experience of persecution or suffering for their faith that remotely resembles the experiences of many of our overseas brothers and sisters. It is difficult to empathize ... many, many, many American Christians refuse to believe what is reported because it is so far outside their experience.”9
I have seen the actual scars. I have heard the heartache and sorrow in their voices. I have seen the suffering in their eyes. It’s an unforgettable picture that is etched on my heart and in my mind forever. And I hope that God never allows me to forget!
Although we live in a world of disbelief and mistrust, we as Christians cannot afford to be skeptics about persecution. Persecution is real and it is happening all around us.
We should be on our knees every day thanking God that this is not what we must endure daily. We should thank God that we don’t have to watch our wives, husbands, sons, and daughters suffer immense pain and anguish, and possibly even death, just for their faith.
But how are we as Christians to respond to a persecuted church? Does persecution really affect us? What is our responsibility and what can we learn from it? How can we embrace a suffering church?
Someone suggested that when trying to make sense of persecution and martyrdom, four key reasons are usually given:
Persecution purifies the church. There are no nominal believers in the persecuted church. There are no Sunday morning Christians in the persecuted church. There are no casual Christians in the persecuted church.
Persecution unifies the church. There are no disputes over minor doctrinal issues in the persecuted church. There are no struggles for power in the persecuted church.
Persecution strengthens the church. Believers in the persecuted church are courageous and bold because every day they are compelled to take a stand for Jesus Christ.
Persecution grows the church. In 1950, when communism took over in China and missionaries were expelled, there were only 1 million Christians in the entire country. Today, even the government recognizes that there are at least 44 million Christians in China; some estimate that it could be as high as 130 million. The reason we do not know for sure is that many of them are meeting secretly in house churches.
Consider North Korea. I will never forget my very first day there.
As we drove over the Tumen River, our guide told us how North Koreans come to the riverbank and wait until evening to attempt the risky swim to Mainland China. The border guards have orders to shoot
on sight and anyone attempting to cross the border illegally is subject to summary execution. Our guide then added, almost as an afterthought, “The Tumen has probably witnessed more deaths than any other river in the world.”
Nowhere is persecution of believers more severe than in North Korea. I am not even able to share with you many of the atrocities committed against these believers—especially the stories of how hundreds of Christ followers are executed every year. In one instance, when a group of church leaders did not reject Christ, police directed that a bulldozer be driven over them, crushing them to death.
The government is rounding up entire families — up to three generations — and throwing them in labor camps. A believer can be sentenced up to 15 years in a labor camp just for owning a Bible, singing a hymn, or praying. And it’s estimated that more than 25% of the believers are currently suffering in prison camps.
Most Christians die within 3 years, so in reality, it is a death sentence.
So many of the Christians who go into these labor camps will never come out. They’re starved, beaten with rods, tortured both physically and psychologically, and forced to work 12 hours a day — it’s truly horrific. Young boys are mutilated and dismembered, and girls are systematically raped. Can you imagine?
Another man had been distributing Bibles throughout North Korea for years when officers finally discovered what he had been doing. They
decided to make an example of him so they beat him brutally — over and over again — until he finally died.
For twenty consecutive years, North Korea has been ranked “the most oppressive place in the world for Christians.” Though exact numbers are difficult to confirm—it is estimated that there are 300,000 Christians in North Korea and 70,000 are believed to be held political labor camps.
I don’t pretend to understand even a fraction of what these people are going through. But I know that if I were in their shoes, I would want to know that someone still cares about me.
North Korea needs more Bibles and more churches. That’s the one thing they asked me for.
I believe God is challenging you and me to respond to the believers in North Korea.
It’s long past time for feeling shocked or even sorry for Christians. It’s time to act. Christians — all across the world must come to the aid of those who are suffering persecution because of their religious beliefs.
Luis Palau asks, “How many more Christians will have to suffer and die before we realize that it is our job to try to stop these atrocities? We are often so caught up with our own petty problems that we don’t make time to think about the Christians who are bleeding and dying across the world.”
There is so much more to be done. So many needs …
They need to have training to plant churches. In India alone, there are over 500,000 villages and cities without a church of any kind. We must train leaders and church planters.
They need to have buildings in which to meet. The Hindus say to Christians in Asia, “If your God is so great, why don’t you have a place to worship Him?”
They need Bibles. There are still millions of Christians who have never held a Bible, let alone owned one. And we can do something about that!
They need prayer. Nothing of eternal significance is ever accomplished apart from prayer. We must be mobilized to pray for the persecuted church.
They need us to follow their example.
The persecuted church does not understand our lifestyle. The persecuted church does not understand our materialism, selfishness, and prayerlessness.
It’s a mystery to them how they can have so very little, and love God so very much…and we have so very much and appear to love God so very little.
If believers in North Korea, India, China, Vietnam, and all around the world are willing to die for Jesus Christ, surely, we should be willing to live for Jesus Christ!
In 1 John 3:17 - 18 in the Message translation we read these words that are so timely for us today:
“If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.”
And in the words of the famous British abolitionist William Wilberforce, “You can choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
From My Prayer Journal
God, you have my attention. Help me to see and feel their suffering so very real in my own life that I cannot forget what I have seen and felt. I can’t even begin to imagine what these dear Christians suffer daily; they are sacrificing so much for you. My faith and commitment pales by comparison. Never let me become complacent and comfortable again. Thank you for refocusing my attention on what is really important in this life and what really matters. Amen
