Title: Martyrdom Faith (Revelation 14:13)
Contents
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea has been keeping the second Sunday of June designated as 'Martyrs Memorial Sunday' since 1993. It is to commemorate, develop and inherit the great martyrdom faith, remembering the revival and development of the Korean church and the fertilization of the blood of many martyrs behind it. The revival of our Korean church was not just such a miraculous thing as world Christianity sees. Our Korean Christianity has brought unprecedented revival and development, but we must not forget that the revival and development was due to the overflowing blood of martyrs. Tertullian, the theologian of the early church, said that "the blood of martyrdom is the seed of the church" is true. The blood of martyrdom became the seed for the revival and development of our Korean church. Our Korean church was built on the foundation of martyrdom faith and martyrdom spirituality and has been revived and developed.
However, we are living our life of faith in an era where the words martyrdom faith and martyrdom spirituality are awkward and lowly. Now that we are living in the midst of peace, convenience, comfort, and all kinds of welfare and benefits, we are in a state of mind that cannot tolerate even the slightest inconvenience or disadvantage. This eventually became a crisis for the Korean church and Korean Christianity. There are even people who do not even call Christianity in Korea a Christian, but denigrate it as 'Christianity'. So, among the search terms of certain Internet portal sites, this term is a search-prohibited word. But that doesn't stop it from doing so.
Why did this happen? The essence of this crisis is that the church has moved too far from the gospel of the cross. What do you do when the gospel of the cross is lost, the heart of the Lord falls out, and no matter how much you grow? It will only lead to a crisis in the end. The bigger it gets, the more dangerous it is. The bigger you get, the harder it is to go back to the basics.
In this situation, what is the future path of the Korean church today? It is to go on the path of restoring the martyrdom faith that God gave us through our ancestors once again. There is no other way. There is no other way. The gospel of the cross must be shouted loudly again in the church. Other gospels should no longer spread as mainstream gospels in the church. We must restore the chastity of faith that does not compromise with the world. We must restore holiness. Only then will the history of holy revival that happened 100 years ago at the moment of extreme hardship of this nation happen once again.
Only the faith of martyrdom can overcome the faith of ups and downs, a mixture of Baal and Asherah. Only faith in martyrdom can overcome the pathology of today's Korean church, which is paired with worldly politics and material things. In addition, we can fix our sad self-portrait, which has lost the sense of community and has become a faith of local churchism and selfishness.
“I feel alone by protecting an empty room, but because the Holy Trinity is together, you have become my family
I will experience my lord in affliction
Honey! This is because Job's sufferings are more precious than Solomon's wealth and wealth, and Solomon's wealth and wisdom became a medium for corruption, but Job's suffering and perseverance became the ultimate glory.
We have to remove the skin of our flesh stained with sin, we must receive the refinement as a child of God.
The end of wealth and glory is sad again, but after suffering, it is the next turn of comfort and joy. How much more is suffering in the Lord not the truth!”
This martyr faith must be restored.
The word 'martyr' used in the New Testament means 'witness' (martus). The meaning of 'martyr' is a 'witness' who sits in the courtroom and testifies to certain facts. The martyrs mentioned in the New Testament have several important characteristics.
First, they were witnesses to the facts of the historical Jesus.
It is the fact that the martyrs of the Bible tried to testify by dying, not the subjective thoughts, rumors, or convictions of individuals. There was no doctrine, no ritual, no tradition. The fact that they did not regard life as precious at all and testified was testifying of the historical Jesus and the real Jesus.
Ordinary confession is limited to one's inner beliefs, but Christian confession is a testimony to the historical facts of Jesus Christ. “You are witnesses of all these things” (Luke 24:48), which means 'witnesses' means a missionary activity that makes people aware of historical events. The martyr "records" that "Christ suffered and was raised from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins was preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46-47). He is a person who suffered hardships to prove the truth of his faith and faith.
Second, a martyr is one who shares in the sufferings of Christ.
Paul says that his suffering is a sharing in the sufferings of Christ (Romans 5:3; 8:17). “I now rejoice in your afflictions for your sake, and fill the rest of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh for the sake of his body, the church” (Colossians 1:24).
What is the visible body of Christ? That is his church. For the sake of the church, the rest of the sufferings of Christ must be borne in the flesh. This is martyrdom faith. We must show our martyrdom faith in making the church a church.
The church is the mother of believers. If the mother is ill, the children cannot grow up healthy.
Third, there is no distinction between 'dead martyrs' and 'living martyrs'.
There is no distinction between those who died in protest of persecution and those who suffered and did not die. Treat those who lost their lives and those who did not lose their lives equally. 'Martyrdom' does not make death an absolute condition. Therefore, you do not have to lose your life to become a witness. A person who kept their faith while protesting like a martyr is also considered a 'martyr'. Hebrews 11:35-12:1 makes this very clear.
Fourth, in what form should martyrdom be expressed and practiced today? is.
In our country today, there is neither the power to enforce idolatry nor the physical force that demands martyrdom to defend the doctrine of the cross or creed. No national law forbids maintaining allegiance, faithfulness to Christ. But perhaps even stronger and more terrifying idolatry is being enforced. The evil devil and Satan are trying to destroy the faith of those who believe, just as before and now. Idols and idolatry were different. Idolatry is the act of serving another object of worship against one God and serving him.
Wesley once said, "We have idols in our hearts, that is, we worship ourselves. We give to ourselves the worship that should be given only to God. Therefore all our boasting is idols." The pride of self, pride of academic achievement, pride of spiritual power, pride of knowledge, pride of money, and pride of children are idolatry in the modern version. The power of idols is strong both in the past and now. Idols more frightening than the Roman Empire or Japanese colonial rule are oppressing our lives. Today's idols appear in society and history in a very glamorous way, wearing a mask or disguise. If you are a 'wake up', you can discover that there are not one or two enemies that you must fight with your martyrdom. Christians who want to unveil various idols and resist them will protest against these idols just like the martyrs of the early church and the martyrs of the late Japanese colonial period. That is the manifestation of martyrdom.
Today's concept of martyrs is active. It has changed from a passive concept to an active concept. The classic martyr is characterized by passive resistance, while the martyr of the modern conception is characterized by active participation. Previously, a martyr became a martyr because someone killed it, and someone made a martyr by throwing suffering. But today no one kills. You have to crucify yourself and follow the Lord. Martyrdom is the belief that 'I' die every day and 'Christ' lives every day. 'We living are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made manifest in our mortal flesh' (2 Corinthians 4:11).
Chusa Kim Jeong-hee said, "I drew, wrote, and read the scriptures so that ten inkstones were pierced and a thousand brushes became a mongdang brush." That is why Chusa's writings and drawings became valuable. There are two Buddhist monks, Dongan and Haange, who 'very fiercely alone in a cave' for about 100 days twice a year. It has now been alleviated by not entering the cave and not leaving the temple gates. During this period, he practices 'bravery and zeal', and the process of cultivating himself intensely is truly mind-boggling.
How can the Christian faith be compared to this? How can they compare to the value of what they get? Then, shouldn't we be more courageous and devoted to the Lord than them?