Original Entry: May 7, 2008
McMinnville, OR
You also, like living stones, are being built
into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 2:5
K. Scott, in A History of Christianity records this famous story
about Second Century Bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp as he was about to be burned at
the stake for his faith in Christ:
When they
would have fastened him to the stake, he said, ‘Leave me as I am; for he who
gives me strength to sustain the fire, will enable me also, without your
securing me with nails, to remain without flinching in the pile.’ Upon which
they bound him without nailing him. So he said thus: – ‘O Father, I bless thee
that thou hast counted me worthy to receive my portion among the martyrs.’
As soon as
he had uttered the word ‘Amen,’ the officers lighted the fire. The flame,
forming the appearance of an arch, as the sail of a vessel filled with wind,
surrounded, as with a wall, the body of the martyr; which was in the midst, not
as burning flesh, but as gold and silver refining in the furnace. We
received also in our nostrils such a fragrance as proceeds from frankincense or
some other precious perfume.
At length
the wicked people, observing that his body could not be consumed with fire,
ordered the confecter to approach, and to plunge his sword into his body. Upon
this such a quantity of blood gushed out, that the fire was extinguished.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.
I often ask myself, “Is this hill I am willing
to die on?” In other words, some things
I hold with such conviction that I am willing to lose everything to hold
them. An opinion is something that you
hold, but a conviction is something that holds you. Some hills are simply not worthy of my blood.
Others, on the other hand I would gladly sacrifice myself for.
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
church.
The
sacrifices of the saints are the bricks in the house of God. Just as men (according to Bill Hybles) “do
not drift into commitment”, the Kingdom of God is bound by the mortar of
sacrifice. Sacrifice is what binds men
together in the Body of Christ. Men
rally around a common purpose- that purpose often comes in the form of
sacrifice. In the Book of Man, William
Bennett writes, “War provokes the highest virtues of a man’s soul: honor,
fortitude, service, and sacrifice…It is no wonder that the greatest
moments of man are often found in battle.”
Without the sacrifice of blood, sweat, and tears
a man would have no purpose as a church.
The Church must be willing to “offer
up spiritual sacrifices” on behalf of those who are not willing to make
their own. Someone must be willing to
bleed on behalf of others. So many
churches only bleed for themselves and are not willing to pay the price on
behalf of those who are lost.
So many men are unwilling to offer up their
hobbies, free time, and dreams as a sacrifice to build their family, children
or marriage.
What mortar are you laying your life upon?
What is the sticking agent in your spiritual
offerings?
Who are you willing to die for?
