FOR THE MARTYRS

     In the fourth chapter of the book of Genesis we read the story of two brothers, Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, and of how evil consumed Cain and he murdered his brother, Abel.  When God confronted Cain for his crime, the Lord said unto Cain, the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.
     Over the past 2000 years, millions of innocent men, women, and children have been murdered for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Most of them never had an obituary written about them, most of them never had a proper burial, and most of them never had a headstone to mark their graves.
     If you study the history of the martyrs, it is interesting to note that the bones of the martyrs were considered by pagans to be no more than relics.  Relics are trophies of the kill, and pagans took the relics of the martyrs as a display of their pride for killing the messengers of Christ:  that the messengers of Christ were the same as killing animals and fish and hanging their heads on the walls as displays of the hunt.  They are exactly like Cain and consumed with evil.
    In the world in which we live, history books are silent about the martyrs of Christ.  To the world, the martyrs were nameless, useless people who did not deserve to live.  And to the world, it is as if they never lived at all, and the ink for them is dry.
     The martyrs of Jesus Christ are my heroes.  To me, they are the bravest and most courageous individuals who have ever lived on the face of the earth.  Because of their selfless love and devotion to teaching the Gospel of Christ, their sacrifice enabled the Good News of the Lord to reach me.  Without Christ and without them, where would I be today?  Where would other believers of Christ be today without the Lord and without the martyrs?  These are the people who experienced pain and great sorrow for the stand they took for the name of Christ.
     Who are your heroes today?  Who are the most important and influencial people in your life?  Are they the sports stars, movie stars, philosophers?  Whom do you follow?  Whom do you believe?  Whom do you quote?  And to whom do you seek for truth?  If not Christ, then all of your thoughts will vanish and not be with you in the world to come after death because their words have no eternal value.
     Christ is eternal, His words are eternal, and if you miss Christ in this world, you will surely miss Him in the world to come because the message of Christ was purchased with His blood, and the blood of the martyrs is a witness of the message of Christ.  And just like Abel, the voices of the blood of the martyrs crieth unto me from the ground, and the Lord hears them.
    John the apostle wrote:  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:  and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.  (John 3:36)