The Roman governor stood resolutely before the forty Roman soldiers of the Thundering Legion. “I command you to make an offering to the Roman gods. If you will not, you will be stripped of your military status.” The forty soldiers all believed firmly in the Lord Jesus. They knew they must not deny Him or sacrifice to the Roman idols, no matter what the governor would do to them. Camdidus spoke for the legion, “Nothing is dearer or of greater honor to us than Christ our God.”
The governor then tried other tactics to get them to deny their faith. First he offered them money and imperial honors. Then he threatened them with torments and torture with the rack and with fire. Camdidus replied, “You offer us money that remains behind and glory that fades away. You seek to make us friends of the Emperor, but alienate us from the true King. We desire one gift, the crown of righteousness. We are anxious for one glory, the glory of the heavenly kingdom. We love honors, those of heaven. You threaten fearful torments and call our godliness a crime, but you will not find us fainthearted or attached to this life or easily stricken with terror. For the love of God, we are prepared to endure any kind of torture. The governor was enraged. Now he wanted them to die a slow, painful death.
They were stripped naked and herded to the middle of a frozen lake. He set soldiers to guard them to prevent any from coming to shore and escaping. The forty encouraged each other as though they were going to battle. “How many of our companions in arms fell on the battle front, showing themselves loyal to an earthly king? Is it possible for us to fail to sacrifice our lives in faithfulness to the true King? Let us not turn aside, O warriors, let us not turn our backs in flight from the devil.”
They spent the night courageously bearing their pain and rejoicing in the hope of soon being with the Lord. To increase the torment of the Christians, baths of hot water were put around the lake. With these the governor hoped to weaken the firm resolve of the freezing men. He told them, “You may come ashore when you are ready to deny your faith.” In the end, one of them did weaken, came off the ice, and got into a warm bath. When one of the guards on the shore saw him desert, he himself took the place of the traitor. Surprising everyone with the suddenness of his conversion, he threw off his clothes, and ran to join the naked ones on the ice, crying out loudly, “I am a Christian.”
Some call it “the mystery of martyrdom.” Why would seeing 39 believers who were willing to die for their faith inspire a highly trained soldier, in the prime of his life, to join them in death? It seems so foreign to our American way of thinking. It is amazing to see how God works through these tragic situations to call more people to Himself.
Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal. If any of you want to serve me, then follow me.
Jesus
John 12:23-26 (THE MESSAGE)
Suffering saints are living seed.
Charles Spurgeon 19th Century Theologian
