Make Him Famous

On the shelves of my church library growing up was a thick tome entitled Martyrs Mirror, a book published in 1660 that was a compilation of the stories of martyrs for their faith. Since I read almost literally anything I could get my hands on as a child, that book did not escape my perusal. Some of the stories in it were graphic and horrific, and there were even pencil illustrations of what happened to the people who were steadfast in their faith, even to the point of death.

One thing that stays with me about every one of those stories: even though I couldn't imagine (or imagined all too vividly) the pain each of those martyr's went through, they endured it. They. Endured. It. Why?! What else besides absolute assurance that they would come through the fires, the lions, the stonings, the rats, the drownings, the buryings, and be delivered into their Savior's arms and eternal life... would have kept them from renouncing their faith? The witness of those people is amazing to me! They made the Lord famous by their sacrifice! Psalm 34:3: "Join me, everyone! Let's praise the Lord together. Let's make Him famous! Let's make His name glorious to all!"

This morning, I read about Stephen, the first martyr. Stephen gave a speech before the Sanhedrin, during which he made the religious leaders so mad, they dragged him out of the city and stoned him to death. In his testimony, he gave witness to the Lord's big plan, the story of God's grace from Day One to the present. He started with Abraham and gave an unforgettable history lesson as he told about God's deliverance of His people. 

Two things stood out to me here. First, Acts 6:15: "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." Then 7:55-56: "But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 'Look,' he said, 'I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.'" 

Fear of persecution for my faith has run deep in me since I was a kid and my parents let me watch The Radicals, a movie based on the life of Michael Sattler, who was one of the martyrs of the Anabaptist movement in the 1500's. (Please note a common mistake I've heard people make: Anabaptist, not Antibaptist. 'Ana' means 'Again;' 'Anti' means 'Against.' Anabaptist means 'baptized again,' or 'baptized as a person who is not an infant, who can believe and recognize God's saving grace in his or her life.' Okay, moving on.) The movie was shown at a local church in our area, and we went to see it, and after that, I was terrified of dying the way those people did (I think I was nine at the time). 

Fast-forward to where I am at the age of forty. I obviously don't wish for persecution any more than I did at nine, but the perspective that heaven opens for those who have lost everything else, who have laid their lives absolutely on the altar for the sake of Christ, and that we see the Lamb of God in His rightful place at the right hand of the Father... this fills me with joy. 

It's no secret that the world is topsy-turvy right now. I don't know what's going to happen in the coming days and weeks and months. But I am praying that we will be refined, the things that keep us from seeing heaven open will be burned away, that anything that holds us back, the last few things we cling to as a part of our old lives will be stripped away, that we - the body of Christ, the Bride - will be clean, absolutely pure, and our faces appear like that of an angel to anyone who looks on. 

I'm praying for a hedge of protection around those who are faithful to pray and intercede for revival and spiritual awakening. The Lord has called us out, and the gifts He's given us, He is going to use boldly as long as we allow Him to fill us up.

So Jesus, fill us up. Let your Holy Spirit that You have given us spill over the edges of these leaky vessels - pressed down, shaken together, running over into the laps of those around us. Refine us, Lord, and let us walk through the fires, so that we can make You famous. Lord, as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego made You famous by their sacrificial words to Nebuchadnezzar, and as Stephen made You famous by his words to the Sanhedrin, let us make You famous by our words and actions in our witness to the world. Let Your kingdom come! Even so, come quickly, Lord!