artyr is one who chooses to sufferdeath rather than to deny Jesus or His work, one who bears testimony to the truth of what he has seen or heard or knows, as in a witness in a courts of justice, one who sacrificessomething very important to further the kingdom of God, or one who endures severe or 7constant suffering for their Christian witness.13 It is a privilege to become a martyr for hehas the privilege of taking on the sacrifice that Jesus did, laying his life down for another. Millions of people have laid down their lives for Jesus and to further the witness ofthe Gospel. For example in Acts 7 there was a man named Stephen was asked to stopdeclaring the gospel but he said he would not, so under the supervision of Saul, later to becalled Paul, he was to be stoned. While being stoned he cried out saying, “Lord Jesus,receive my spirit.”14 He then knelt down and said for everyone to hear, “Lord Jesus donot charge them with this sin.”15 After he was stoned the overseer Saul was so touchedhe begin to want to know that love that Stephen did, so he was born again and he becameone of the greatest apostles of all time.Just because of one man’s total commitment to God thousands were saved throughthe ministry of Paul. One life committed to speaking, walking, and living out the gospeland love of Christ can change even a whole nation. Martyrdom does not only mean dyingthough but a man can also be a “living martyr.”A living martyr is one that complete dies to self. A man that daily lays down hislife and comes to the point that nothing of self can touch him. A dead person does notrespond when someone hits or kicks him because every bit of his responsiveness is gone,all of his nerves and brain waves are gone; therefore, if a man is dead to his flesh than if adesire or temptation rises than he will not be swayed by it.Once again God will not ask man to die to self all at once, for he could not ;but ...
