A dying mother's thanks

Winter Christian #7

What we’ve covered so far…

1. You need to stop feeling guilty and defeated, and start serving God’s Kingdom.

2. You can serve every day without being a hero.

3. The war is starting, and we must prepare for anything.

4. We have weaknesses our Enemy will exploit.

5. We already know how the tribulation will go.

6. They’re going to kill us anyway, so let’s be worthy to suffer.

What we’re discussing today…

7. We may lose everything, but we must be grateful until the end.

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We are in His hands

What is life to the Winter Christian? An opportunity to pour out gratitude before meeting the One who has given us everything; Our Father, who will give us eternal rewards in the life to come! Therefore, rather than fearfully counting what we might lose in the coming tribulation, we should offer everything we have in advance, and cling to nothing but the Promise given to us by God through His Son. That alone is our treasure, which no man can take away from us.

From the beginning of the world, God took notice of mankind’s suffering, even when man’s heart was full of envy, bitterness, and murder:

Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast?”

—Genesis 4:6

Do we think that God does not notice our sighs, and tears, and sorrows? For those who are born again, He has put His Spirit within us, and dwells with us day to day. And again, remember what the Lord said about lowly sparrows:

Aren’t two sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

—Matthew 10:29-31

Many Christians will forget these words when the suffering begins. The Winter Christian is the man (or woman) who understands this paradox: we are precious in the eyes of God, but that is precisely why our suffering and death (if it is for His sake) is counted as an honor. Our life finds no greater meaning than to become a sacrifice for His Kingdom’s glory. After all, God does not respect the sacrifice of cheap things; this was why he ignored Cain’s offering of plants, but appreciated the burnt offering of Abel.¹

No greater love

The Inquisition. In this case, a victim is fastened to a table and his feet are burned with hot irons, and then he is forcefully filled with water until their stomach bursts.

In the year 1538, in August, there were apprehended in the town ten or seventeen men and women, who were said to have been rebaptized, all of them humble (or poor) people, etc., except a goldsmith, who was among the number, whose name was Paul Vandruynen, and who was said to be their teacher.

This Paul, together with three other men, was strangled alive and burned, upon a scaffold at Vucht, on the ninth of September. … A rope was tied into the mouth of each that they should not speak or cry aloud.

Two Minorities and two Dominicans² were also present, who wanted to say much to them, and show them a crucifix; but they would not look at it, saying that they had God in their hearts, and, therefore, would worship neither wood nor stone; they also prayed for those who put them to death, and said that the servant was not better than his master, and that they did willingly die in His name, but would not listen to the monks.

…On the eleventh of September, at the afore-said place, three women and one man were strangled, who were said to be rebaptized; one of whom was the wife of Paul, the teacher, here also monks were present, to induce them to renounce.

Paul’s wife said: “Oh Lord, enlighten the eyes of those who inflict this suffering upon us, that they may see what they are doing. I thank Thee, O God, that Thou countest me worthy to suffer for Thy name’s sake.”

…The aforesaid Paul and his wife had an infant of nine months, which was still unbaptized; this they took from the mother in prison and baptized it.

—Martyr’s Mirror (page 447-448), “Twelve persons, men and women, burned and beheaded for the testimony of Jesus Christ, at Vucht, near Herzogenbusch, A.D. 1538”

How, dear reader, is it possible for an untrained citizen, a commoner, the mother of an young infant, to thank God while she is about to be strangled to death and have her body burned? A woman who was arrested, mistreated, and imprisoned for doing nothing wrong? Whose husband was murdered without justice? Whose child was stolen from her? How can any worshiper of God stand true and give thanks while Satan’s minions lord over them with tools of death, taunting and slandering?

This is only one of countless testimonies we have of martyrs who faced their suffering gladly, without fear. Another account from the same time period, also with a mother and father, who in this case were drowned by having large stones tied around their necks and thrown into the waters of Monnickendom, in Holland, concludes with this: “Thus they did not love their lives, but surrendered them unto death for the witness of Jesus, who at His glorious coming shall raise their rejected bodies from the dead, and crown them with immortality in heaven.”

And this is key. They knew that the resurrection is real, and that suffering for the Lord is the greatest honor we can receive. These beloved saints were not celebrities, crusaders, or notable leaders of any kind. They did not publish volumes of books or disrupt the peace. They were quiet, peaceful, ordinary believers who were betrayed by locals terrified of the Inquisition.

No one has greater love than this: that one lays down his life for his friends.

—John 15:13

Jesus laid down his life for us, not so that we could be spared suffering in this world, but so that we would have an assurance of the faithfulness and power of God by his resurrection, glorification, and ascension. And likewise, the deaths of the martyrs speaks to us today. They did not know us, but they laid down their lives for us as our friends, if we read their testimony and take courage from their example.

A prayer for the martyr

We are not meant to prepare our defenses ahead of time against the satanic Inquisition that will take place before the cataclysms of this age, but we can pray any time, anywhere. And prayer is part of our training, to condition our spirit to accept what is necessary and good, although it is against our natural impulses.