We are commanded to remember the persecuted. Hebrews 13, verse three, remember the prisoners as if chained with them. Those who are mistreated, since yourselves are in the body also. In Matthew 25, verse 35 to 40, our Lord Jesus said, for I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did you see you a stranger and take you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or imprisoned and come to you? And the king will answer and say to him, assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. We're told in 1 Corinthians 12, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. If one member's honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually. Now you cannot have one part of your body suffering and the rest of the body being unconcerned. Oh, it's just a toothache, it's just a migraine, it's just a stubbed toe. You know, it's just my finger, just my liver, my kidney, just my heart, you know, what difference does it make? No, every part of the body feels when one part of the body is injured. And when one part of the body is honored, then the whole body rejoices in that as well. Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me. When the Lord speaks of taking up his cross, he's not just referring to an ornament like I'm wearing a chaplain's cross on my lapel here. It's not just by their t-shirts you'll know them, by their bumper sticks you'll know them. Taking up your cross is more than Christian jewelry, and ornaments. It is being willing to die. A person who took up his cross in the Roman world was on his way to die. It was a one-way journey. He wasn't coming back. We die to the world. For whoever desires to save his own life will lose it, Jesus says. Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit is to man if he gains the whole world, but if he loses his own soul? And Lord Jesus warned us, if the world hates you, remember, it's hated me first. before it hates you. If you were of the world, then the world would love you. It loves its own. Yet because you are not of the world, because I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, the servant is not greater than the master. If they persecuted me, Jesus said, they will persecute you too. How can we think that we are above the master? Now just think of the testimonies of the apostles. Do you know all the apostles suffered severe persecution for Christ and most died for Christ. The Apostle Peter was crucified upside down in Rome. He said, I do not deserve to suffer the same death that my master did. And the Romans crucified him upside down. James, the elder, was beheaded by King Herod in Palestine after a life of fearless preaching. John, after a life of evangelism, he is boiled in oil. Can you imagine? He is banished and exiled to Patmos, where he received the revelation. Andrew was crucified in Greece while spreading the gospel there, and that's why the St. Andrew's cross is in the shape of an X because he was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Philip died as a martyr in Asia Minor after preaching the gospel to the Gauls, Asia Minor being what we call Turkey today. Nathanael preached the gospel in India and Armenia before being flayed alive and beheaded. Thomas established churches throughout Babylonia and India before he was axed to death in Calcutta. The Bar Thomas Church exists there to this day. Matthew was burned to death while preaching the gospel in Aksum, what later became Abyssinia, what today we call Ethiopia. Jude preached the gospel throughout Syria and Persia, what we today call Aram, where he was finally martyred. James Younger was crucified while evangelizing in Egypt, where Mark had established the gospel earlier. Simon the Zealot preached the word of God throughout Syria and Mesopotamia. He is sworn in half in Persia, where today is Aaron. Matthias was crucified on a missionary outreach to the Crimea, where today is in Russia. Mark, who wrote Mark's gospel, was martyred in Alexandria in Egypt. Now, it doesn't sound like they were doing the health and wealth, name it, claim it, and frame it prosperity gospel. And then the apostle Paul, the apostle of faith, he testified, in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews, five times they received 40 stripes minus one. 40 stripes would kill you, so they did 39, just one less. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often. In perils of waters. In perils of robbers. In perils of my own countrymen. In perils of the Gentiles. In perils in a city. In perils in the wilderness. In perils of the sea. In perils amongst false brethren. in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides the other things which come upon me daily, my deep concern for the churches. Now this is the apostle of faith who many of the prosperity preachers claim lived a life of prosperity, yet he was starving often, he was often without clothes, without rest, without sleep. He doesn't seem to be living the, you know, your best life now kind of prosperity health business. But the Apostle Paul wrote, For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not to be worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us. The suffering is temporary, the glory is eternal. The apostle Peter wrote, for what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently, but when you do good and you suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps. 1 Peter 1 verse 6, In this you greatly rejoice, that now for a little while, if need be, you are grieved by various trials. How can you greatly rejoice in grievous trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold, that perishes? Though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Christ. Now we should know in South Africa, gold, after it's been pulled from the earth, kilometers below Johannesburg perhaps, it's refined by fire. They burn away the dross. And gold is of no use whatsoever unless it has gone through the fire. And our faith is of no use unless it's gone through the fire as well. Yes. We read from the Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 3.12, all who desire to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted. Notice he does not say some, he doesn't say many, he doesn't say most, he says all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. Now Brother Andrew, who was a family friend, and I met a number of times. He wrote of a mission behind the Iron Curtain to Hungary, where a pastor there asked him if any pastors in Holland were in prison. And Brother Andrew responded, no, I'm not aware of any pastors in prison in the Netherlands, at least not then. And he was asked, what then do your churches do with 2 Timothy 3 verse 12? Well, Brother Andrew reported, our churches do nothing with that verse. If we are seeking to be faithful to Lord Jesus, we will suffer some persecution. But by God's grace we pray not the violent, vicious persecution which Christians and communists in Muslim lands have been called to suffer. But if we seek to be faithful to the Lord Jesus, there will be times when we will be misunderstood, slandered, discriminated against, threatened, and abused. Whether you're talking about in family, or from friends, or neighbours, or co-workers, or governments, or at school, or at the workplace, those who maintain a consistent stand for the Lord are bound to suffer some abuse, more so these days in this work-cancel culture, and same time LGBTQ transgender cults and so on. You will get into trouble if you are consistent in speaking up for Christ. And if we are not getting any grief from the pagans and the false Christians, then maybe we're compromising. When our Lord warned his disciples of coming persecution, they responded with disbelief. They did not believe Jesus warning, therefore they did not watch and pray. As a result, they fell asleep in the garden when they should have been praying, and they denied the Lord and ran away when he was betrayed and arrested. The Apostle Paul strengthened the disciples, we read, and he encouraged them to remain true to the faith by teaching, we must pass through much tribulation to enter the kingdom of God. That's in Acts 14.22. Now how can that encourage churches? Just try that in some of the mega churches today. you'll get, I don't trust either, get them behind me Satan. The power of the tongue, the power of life and death is in the tongue and I won't have you confess that and things like this. People would not be giving a lot of amens when you hear, we must pass through much tribulation to enter the kingdom of heaven. Church will be quiet. If you want to get a quick response in a church today, just walk up to the pulpit and say something like, we serve a good God. Or, we're living in the last days, and you'll get amens all over the place. And you know, God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. That'll get a response. But we must pass through much tribulation then, the kingdom of heaven. It won't get many amens in Cape Town. But I've heard it get amens in Romania, by the way. I've heard it receiving amens from church in Sudan. I've heard churches in Congo and Nigeria saying amen to that. Never heard a church in America say amen to that. And probably not Cape Town either. In response to the clear teaching, the warnings of these scriptures, in the light of the increasing hostility to Christianity, in so many circles, it would be wise for every Christian to study what the Word of God has to say about persecution. And it says a lot. Over 400 million Christians live under governments that restrict and persecute the Christian Church. There are 67 countries in the world today which restrict religious freedom and persecute believers. The Bible is said to be banned in 66 countries. The Bible is a banned book in many countries, which is why there are ministries of Bible smuggling around like ours. And tens of thousands of Christians are martyred for the faith every year. How often have you seen this verse in a cemetery, especially a war cemetery? Greater love has no man than this, than a man lays down his life for his friends. John 15 verse 13. That is true for the military, it's true in the church, it's true for the persecuted church too. And they overcame Satan by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony, they did not love their lives to death. Notice they didn't just overcome Satan by the blood of Christ's atonement, the helmet of salvation, but by the word of God, the sword, the spirit. Not only the word known, not just the word memorized in their hearts and minds, but by living testimony, by the word of their testimony. They applied the word of God to every area of life. Just think of someone like Daniel could stand before the lion's den. in confidence because he continued to pray to God alone. He didn't fear the king or the king's lions, whose lions were doubtless starved and mistreated so that they would tear to pieces anyone who ever was thrown in there. But these lions were not a problem to Daniel because an angel doubtless told the lions, Daniel's one of ours. Be patient. Tomorrow you'll get a great feast when all the tattletales are thrown in. A Lord Jesus Christ taught, we should not be afraid of those who can only kill the body, not that they can do anything else. The Lord said, I will tell him to fear. You must fear God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell forever. That is whom you should fear. Fear God, skip the rest. There's a book written on self-reconciliation. We fear not but God. That is a good title. It's a good thing. It's this kind of courage you see in the apostles in the book of Acts. When Peter and John were dragged before the Sanhedrin, the same Sanhedrin that had condemned Christ to death a few days earlier, they courageously responded, judge for yourselves whether it be right in God's sight to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking of what we have seen and what we have heard. In response to the threats of the Sanhedrin, we read that the apostles, Peter and John, gathered with the other disciples, and what did they pray for? Lord, they're threatening us. Did they complain? No. They just prayed for the boldness to break the law and to defy these authorities, these illegitimate authorities, these Pharisees and scribes. They prayed for the boldness to continue to proclaim God's word. And how did God respond to that prayer? Now look, Lord, on their threats. Grant your servants that with all boldness, we may speak your word. The scripture records when they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they went out and they spoke the word of God with boldness. This is one of the undeniable fruits of the Spirit, boldness, courage, that people will continue to put God first and not fear man. And men have done some fearful tortures to the saints of old, just in coming over. Brethren, in the time of the Reformation, are burned at the stake for proclaiming the gospel, denying transubstantiation, or questioning that you can pray to Mary, or questioning any of the superstitious doctrines of the Roman Catholic papacy. People are burned at the stake for reading the Bible. We read of Seven mothers and fathers who were burned alive in England, I think in Coventry, for the crime of teaching their children the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Commandments in English. Seven parents burned alive for that. I mean, just imagine doing what every Christian parent should do, teaching their children the Word of God. And the apostate Catholic Church was so anti-Christ at that stage that they would burn fathers and mothers for loving their children and teaching them the Word of God. So we read, the high priest rose up with great indignation, arrested the apostles, cast them into prison. Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and you intend to bring this man's blood on us. I mean, how strange is that? Why would they blame the Sanhedrin for the death of Christ? These conniving, backstabbing criminals who paid 30 pieces of silver to Judas to betray Christ, who mobilized the Romans to get them arrested, who whipped up the crowd to shout, release Barabbas, crucify Christ, his blood be upon us and upon our children. Why would they put the blame for Jesus' death on these apostate religious leaders? But Peter and the other apostles answered, we must obey God rather than man. And that's as true today as it's true then. We must obey God rather than man. The Sanhedrin had the apostles flogged, commanded them not to speak in the name of Jesus. And the apostles left the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. Now how's that? Not whinging, not whining, not complaining. Lord, how can these horrible things happen to us? They counted it a joy, a privilege to suffer for Christ. When I first started going behind the Iron Curtain to Eastern Europe, I was kind of surprised to find the whole attitude of the people there. And one man told me in Romania, in the West, you have a theology of prosperity. In the East, we have a theology of suffering. It is a privilege to suffer for Christ. And that's the attitude I saw throughout Eastern Europe, behind the Iron Curtain, during the dark days of persecution. They weren't complaining to us that we were persecuted. They were saying it's a privilege to suffer for Christ. Now, what produces stronger Christians? Those who say, don't worry, we won't go through persecution, we'll be raptured. God will put us in bubble wrap, Styrofoam, do not bruise or bump or inconvenience on the way. Bill Bathman said to me, it's not that Christians in the West aren't willing to suffer persecution for Christ. They just don't want to be inconvenienced. And it's true. I can't come to church today. It's raining. I mean, I could get wet. My shoes could get muddy stepping out. They don't have a paid parking lot there and things like this. The amount of things that bother people. And yet, you get a whole range of Christians in the world today who say it's a privilege to suffer Christ. Here's the statistic. One in six Christians today live under governments that persecute Christianity. In Africa, it's one in three. One in three Christians in Africa live under governments that persecute the church. So, we are privileged to be in the area where we have religious freedom. But then again, how many real Christians do we have in our societies where it's easy and safe and popular and legal to be a Christian? That's why I'm not impressed with people who question the Christianity of people like the Egyptian Coptics who suffer there. Yes, they've got a different denomination. Yes, we wouldn't go for icons and so on. But they're willing to die for Christ. That counts for a lot more than our people who are willing to dance and sing and wave praise banners around when it's safe and easy and legal. How many people were singing Hosanna on Palm Sunday when Jesus came to Jerusalem? And how many of them were standing with Christ when he was being condemned and unjustly tried? How many of those who are singing Hosanna on one day were singing or shouting crucify Christ and release Barabbas just a few days later? And this is the problem. We've got a lot of convenient Christians, easy Christians, or as my wife put it, farewell paddlers. Yesterday we went out to paddle with the dragon boats, cancer surviving dragon boaters in Cape Town Harbor on the third anniversary of my wife's entering eternity. And Lenore used to say, there are fair-weather paddlers, and there are all-weather paddlers. And there's fair-weather friends, and there are all-weather friends. And there's fair-weather Christians, and there are all-weather Christians. A fair-weather Christian or fair-weather friend is not much of a Christian or friend at all. Because when trouble comes and the storms rage, they want to sit at home and they want to be comfortable. A real friend goes out in all weather, a real Christian worships the Lord no matter what. He doesn't say, well, it's a bit cold today, it's a bit wet and rainy and stormy, I'm going to stay home, and so on. When you read of the martyrdom of Stephen, who was described as full of faith and power, he did great wonders in science amongst the people. So the people were stirred up against the deacon Stephen, and false witnesses were produced. That's never difficult. You can find false witnesses almost any day of the week. If the tide turns and popularity moves, you can suddenly find people who were your friends one day, like the ones waving palm fronds on Palm Sunday, who've turned into the mob screaming for Jesus' blood on Good Friday. So false witnesses were produced and Stephen made a courageous stand before the Sanhedrin recording Acts 7, which is the longest message in Book of Acts. Obviously it's there for a reason. Some people skip Acts 7 because they think it's all dealing with history. But history is important. History can be his story. You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Now he's speaking this to religious people, by the way. Religious leaders. Which of you, which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the just one, of whom you have now become the betrayers and the murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it. So to the religious leaders, the church of that day, Stephen, the first Christian martyr, made a stand that you are the betrayers of Christ. You're the murderers. You received the law, but you haven't kept it. Which of the true prophets have you and your fathers, your ancestors, not betrayed? We read that a great persecution arose against the church, which was in Jerusalem. And they all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. And those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Now this is an interesting piece of history here, because God gave the Great Commission to the church at the end of each of the Gospels, and at the beginning of the Book of Acts, the Great Commission is reinforced. And that's basically the theme of Acts. You will be my witnesses when Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and the outermost parts of the earth. The problem is they stayed put in Jerusalem. They stayed in their comfort zone. They stayed with what they knew and were comfortable with, where it was safe in their mind. And only persecution forced them to get out and finally get to Judea and Samaria and to other parts of the Earth. So sometimes persecution can be to force us to go elsewhere. Just take, for example, during the Anglo-Boer War. We had many Boer commandos, prisoners of war, who were shipped off to Ceylon, to what is today Sri Lanka, and to India in prison camps. They shipped them to Saint Helena. They sent them all over the place to get them in a place where they couldn't easily escape. And after they were returned to South Africa and the end of the war, many of those Boer prisoners who were Christians went back as Mishkis. Many American soldiers who fought throughout the Pacific went back to the same islands as missionaries later to take the gospel there. Some people who were locked up in prison, like Sergeant de Chazard in Japan, part of the two little bombers who had bombed Japan and run out of fuel and been captured, they went back to Japan and preached the gospel. And we've got the story of Mitsuyo Fushida, the Japanese commander who led the raid on Pearl Harbor, brought to Christ by this American airman, a bomber pilot, who went back to Japan to preach the gospel to the people who had once imprisoned him and very seriously mistreated him too, and won some of their former enemies to Christ. I mean, this is often what God does. He takes you out of your comfort zone, puts you in a bad place so that you'll go back there later to open your eyes. Persecution often is necessary to galvanize the church, but at ease in Zion, to get out of their comfort zone and get out into the field. In order to please the people, King Herod had James, the brother of John, beheaded. And he then ordered the Apostle Peter to be arrested. However, God opened prison doors and he set the captive free and answered the prayer. And it's quite an amazing thing to read about how the priest was still meeting in the upper room, praying for the Apostle Peter to be released. And he's knocked at the front door, and the person who opened doors had just left the door locked and ran in to say, Peter's at the gate. There he is still at the outside. They're praying for him to be released, and he's already there. and they were more ready to keep praying than to believe that the person already answering has already released and let the door. And then we read that God judged King Herod. The angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give glory to God. He was eaten by worms and died. But the word of the Lord grew and multiplied. When I first read that, I thought, the translators have this backwards. Surely it means he died and was eaten by worms. But when I went to Sudan, I discovered there's a disease called guinea worm. And I was introduced to people who have it. It's a disease you can get from the water. And they're infected more than they get. The guinea worm comes into your body. And people would show me, you could actually see the guinea worm eating just under the skin. They could feel it moving around. And so people died even today from worms coming into their body, eating them up while they're alive. So there are diseases like that, where you can be eaten by worms and die, not the other way around. And so God judged Herod, who was full of himself and accepting the praise from the people on the ground, who were saying, a voice of God and not of a man. And he accepted his praise, and God struck him. Throughout the book of Acts we see peace and power amidst persecution. Paul and Barnabas boldly proclaimed the gospel. They responded with joy to persecution. You know, we'd think we'd complain. We get people complaining about some small matters. We complain about not getting a convenient parking place at the shopping mall, the air-conditioned shopping mall, and things like this. And we've had some of these so-called prosperity preachers complaining and saying answers to prayer. Joel Olsen gave this as an actual illustration of the power of faith. His wife and him were going to the shopping mall, and they prayed for a parking place close to the entrance, and there one came, just in front, they were able to park close to the entrance. probably in a reserve for wheelchair people or something. Probably didn't mention the old lady that cut off to take the parking place. But what a stupid, trivial, materialistic explanation of faith. I suppose that reveals something about the person who uses it. And I'd be embarrassed to talk about that as being an important answer to prayer. It's a shame. But there are people out there like that. But all in Barnabas, they rejoiced at the privilege of suffering for Christ. But the Jews stood up the devout and the prominent woman and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from the region. They shook the dust off their feet against them, came to Iconium, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. How often you read of people being persecuted in the book of Acts and responding with joy. It's extraordinary. We should respond with joy. It's a privilege to suffer for Christ. In Acts 16, we read of Paul and Silas, seized and dragged before the authorities. Then the multitude rose up together against him, and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. That can even be worse than whip sometimes. I mean, a solid rod being beaten with that, that's pretty serious. And when they had laid many stripes upon him, They threw them into the prison, commanding the jailers to keep them securely. So they were fastened with their feet in the stops. They couldn't even walk around the prison cell. Chained, actually, to the stone. Can you imagine? But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God. And the prisoners were listening to them. This passage inspired me when I ended up my first experience in prison in the town of Livingston in Zambia. We'd refused to pay bribes. We ended up in prison. in a filthy cell, covered in filth and with possibly thousands of crawling, biting insects, cockroaches, mosquitoes, you name it. I counted 65 mosquito bites on one foot next morning. I didn't bother to count the rest. I mean, my whole body was an angry relief mat, but that was just one foot. And in spite of this, we decided to start singing hymns somewhere around midnight as well. And it's a testimony when you can sing in the cells. This is the sort of thing that we should be doing. Stripped and beaten, fogged and imprisoned, chained in the prison cells, Paul and Silas determined to praise God amidst their persecution. You might have read the book, From Prison to Praise, and that's a powerful example too. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains were loosed. By God's grace, Paul and Silas were able to see their captor, the jailer himself converted, and his entire family brought to salvation and baptized that night. In the book of the Fox's Book of Martyrs, you'll see many examples of testimonies of courageous Christians who suffered for the faith. And it's important to note, Christians were not persecuted by the Romans for worshipping Jesus. The Romans were polytheists. They had an entire pantheon of gods. They even offered a niche in the pantheon to put a statue of Jesus. And the Christians said, we can't do that. Jesus can't be numbered with the other gods. They're false gods. Well, interesting, if you go to Pantheon today, all those niches are empty. All those false gods and idols have been taken out of the space. There's one statue of Jesus, not on four statues of Jesus, but this is just symbolic of the victory. The only statue in the Pantheon now is the statue of the Lord Jesus. If the early Christians had registered their religion with the state, if they had burned incense before an image of Caesar, they would have been left alone. They don't mind you worshipping Jesus as long as you are also willing to worship the state and their idols that they may have. By refusing to participate in emperor worship and by declaring Jesus Lord instead of Caesar's Lord, the Christians came under suspicion and violent persecution. They were not persecuted because they worshipped Christ, they were persecuted because they refused to worship Caesar. If you will worship the woke LGBTQ spirit of the age, if you will do what the New World Order wants, they want a one world interfaith religion, You know, worship whatever the agenda is of the state, repeat their mantras. You can worship Jesus as well. But Jesus is not willing to be just one amongst many gods and legions in your life. Jesus is Lord. He's not just Lord, he's King of Kings and he's Lord of Lords. He is the ultimate authority. All nations, all kings, will bow down before Christ. He will destroy all those false gods and make them as nothing, as he did with Egypt. All the false gods, the idols of Egypt, were judged in the ten plagues. It's extraordinary to read of the testimonies of the Fox's Book of Martyrs. Dynamic believers responding to persecution with joy. Take Ignatius of Antioch. When sent to death by the emperor Trajan, he responded, I thank thee, O Lord, that thou hast vouchsafed thus to honor me. I am God's grain to be ground between the teeth of wild beasts so that I might become a holy loaf for the Lord. If I must just be some grain to be bitten between the teeth of these wild beasts, if I can make a holy loaf for the Lord, what a privilege. Then there's Polycarp of Smyrna, who was discipled by the Apostle John. When he was arrested, he declared, God's will be done. And he provided food for his captors before they escorted him to the Roman consul. And the consul was struck by how old Polycarp was. Pity your gray hairs, old man. Just burn some incense before the emperor and you can go free. Polycarp responded, if you think for a moment that I would do that, then you pretend not to know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian. Then just to this old man, the pro-council said, just curse Christ and I will set you free. He's trying to make it easy for him. 86 years I've served my Christ. He has never done me any wrong. How then can I bless my king who has saved me? I have wild beasts threatened, Proconsul. Bring them, Polycorps said. I would change my mind if it meant going from the worse to the better, but not from the right to the wrong. If you despise the wild beasts, I will have you burned, warned Proconsul. You threaten me with a fire that burns but for an hour, then it is extinguished. You know nothing of the fire of eternal judgment, which will never be extinguished. Bring what you will. And as Polycorp was led into the arena, he is heard to pray, Lord God, father of our blessed savior, I thank thee that I've been deemed worthy to receive the crown of martyrdom, that I may die for thee and thy cause. Cyprian of Carthage, when he was sentenced to be beheaded, exclaimed, thanks be to God. To them, it was a privilege to die as a martyr for Christ. Perpetua was a Christian noble woman living in Carthage, North Africa, roughly where Tunisia is now. In the year 202, Perpetua was a 22-year-old mother, and she is the first to be arrested in a new wave of persecution. There were 10 waves of persecution in the Roman Empire over 300 years. When her pagan father visited and pleaded with her to deny she is a Christian, Perpetua responded, it is impossible that I can be called anything other than what I am. I am a Christian. So the governor ordered Perpetua to worship the emperor. Her response was decisive. I will not. Are you a Christian?" then asked the governor. Yes, I am. Perpetrator's determined response brought immediate condemnation. The governor condemned her and her friends to be thrown to the wild beasts to die in the arena. The amphitheater was filled with nobles and ladies and senators, ambassadors. Tens of thousands shouted insults and derisions as she has led to her death. Wild beasts and gladiators circled on the arena floor. And the crowds in the stands roared. They demanded to see blood. Perpetrator friends entered the stadium singing Psalms in such a joyful demeanor. The crowd demanded the Christians must be flogged first, break their will. Coming in and just singing before being killed is insulting to the audience. They're looking for blood. They don't want to hear Christians singing. And so they were whipped. And as the mob screamed abuse, perpetrator was heard to say, you have condemned us, but God will condemn you. A wild heifer charged and tossed Perpetua high in the air. And as she fell on her back, she sat up and adjusted her ripped tunic, thinking more of the modesty than of the pain. She then walked over to help Felicitas, her servant, to the feet. So Perpetua means always or perpetual. And Felicitas is faith or faithfulness. So perpetually faithful, her friend together. Perpetua encouraged the other Christians. We must all stand fast in the faith and not be weakened by what we have gone through. Witnesses in the stands described Perpetua as young and beautiful, a pure and modest Christian lady with shining countenance and calm step, as the beloved of God, as the bride of Christ, putting down everyone's stare by her own intense gaze. Her bold testimony, I'm a Christian and I cannot deny Christ, was repeated throughout the empire. Her example of Christian resolve and Christian courage, choosing to suffer and die with a clear conscience rather than deny her savior, inspired generations of Roman Christians to stand firm in the face of relentless persecution. It is said that the gladiator was so afraid to handle her with the sword, she actually picked up his sword hand and guided it to her throat. So Perpetua and Felicity, their saint day is March the 7th, and Perpetua and Felicity think of Semper Fi, always faithful, which is the motto of the Marines, and they were always faithful to the end. Revelation 2 verse 10 declares, be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life. Tertullian famously declared, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. For every Christian killed in the arena, multitudes were converted in a stand. In time, the slaves of the Roman Empire were converted. The nobles of the Roman Empire were converted. The barbarian invaders were brought to Christ. Even the violent Vikings were won to Christ. Generations of Christians who suffered persecution succeeded in winning over their persecutors to Christ. They must have been pretty powerful to have done that. I've seen it in Sudan even, where Muslims have come across the border and said, we want to become Christians, we want to fight for the South. When they see the courage and the perseverance of the Christians, even the persecutors sometimes are converted. That's why we are commanded, remember the prisoners as they've trained with them. Those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also. So today, the 10th of November is International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted. By the way, it's also the birthday of Reformer Martin Luther. And IDOP, you'll see more details on the Frontline Mission SA.org website about persecuted churches. I'd like to show you a video on the persecution that our mission has been involved in helping to deal with. so Frontline, Behind Every Lance for Christ, is a celebration of 40 years of God's faithfulness in providing for Frontline Fellowship. This next month will be 40 years since our first cross-border mission and we knew that we had to give the untold story for many years. People have said, but what actually happened and what led to a new army of Christians willing to be valiantly willing to step out into areas that are restricted access areas. South African Connections traveling to Zambia does so at their own risk. That's the view of one of the four missionaries who was released after spending 16 days in a Zambian prison. Mr. Peter Hammond is the director of the organization Frontline Fellowship that does Christian mission work in African states. His group was arrested and thrown into prison after refusing to pay bribes and part with some of their equipment. Mr. Peter Hammond were captured near the Malawi border four days ago. The seven who were part of the California-based emergency relief team were reportedly providing relief assistance to Mozambican civilians in the war-torn country. Mr. Hammond will arrive in South Africa today. He is expected to give a full first-hand account of how the group was kidnapped by Frolima soldiers to members of the media at Jansmans Airport. We were actually in Malawian territory. We did not stray into Mozambique territory. We were definitely on Malawian side of the Mozambican checkpoint. They came out and surrounded us with guns and they forced us across at gunpoint into Mozambique, put us into Soviet armored vehicle, late into Soviet helicopters, late into Soviet plane, and we were transferred all the way down to Maputo to the secret police prison at Meshava. We were not arrested, we were abducted. Christian survivors of massacres relate to just many incidents of communist persecution of the church in Angola. They told us how Cuban officers came into their churches and put an AK-47 assault rifle up on a pulpit. They said, this is now your God. This has power over life and death. Worship this. The Holocaust in Rwanda has been widely reported. However, the anti-Christian aspect of the Hutu mass murder seems to have been generally ignored. So too has the influence of witchcraft, Marxism, and Islam. be the only system of prayer that we have seen. Even the Nuba Mountains, which was an island of Christianity, is sealed as well. Groups like Frontline Fellowship make their own way into Christian-held territories. Outside of the UN umbrella, they are free to bring medical and food assistance, Bibles and educational materials. and agricultural tools and seed. And most precious of all is the Jesus film in Arabic, which we will be showing in this compound tonight. Whenever we asked them, what can we do to help you? We heard these words, Biblia, Biblia, Biblia. They wanted Bibles. And when we produced the Bibles, we saw people falling on their knees and weeping, saying, I've never had a Bible before. Not since the Cubans burnt my Bible have I had the Word of God for myself. The Muslim Arab North has been attacking the Christian Black South since 1955. Most of the West Wall is pockmarked with holes from hundreds of pieces of strap hole. They are fighting to protect their families. They are fighting that their wives and children will not be taken slaves so that they can liberate their country from this fundamentalist Muslim regime which is trying to wipe out every trace of Christianity. It seems incredible that any government would target their own citizens and actually bomb hospitals, schools, churches, marketplaces. The Cubans then took many of the pews and Bibles and hymn books and the Lord's table and pulpit and made a bonfire outside. On this bonfire they threw the rest of the Bibles and hymn books. They then took the meat that they had desecrated the church with and they had a barbecue. They actually roasted the meat for their meal of celebration. Later they went into the church and tried to burn the whole church down. God's incredible guidance, protection, provision will inspire a new generation of Christians. Frontline Beyond Human Lines to Christ is to be launched to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Frontline Finisher's first cross-border missions into a restricted access area. The book is going to be available in hardcover and softcover, and print-on-demand and e-book format. And when we were put in front of a firing squad,