One dark January evening in 1944 Bruce Porterfield sat down in his home in Lansing, Michigan, to read the paper after a hard day’s work. The story of how five missionaries had presumably been killed by Stone-Age Indians in Bolivia caught his attention. That evening he committed himself to follow in their footsteps.
Six years later he and his wife Edith arrived in Bolivia in the midst of a revolution. They survived the shooting that blazed around them and joined other missionaries at a back- woods river town named Cafetal. Here they heard of the wild Nhambiquaras. An Indian Tribe who had attacked the Tylee family and Mildred Kratz in Brazil.
In January, 1951, they were joined by a big, ambling bear of a bachelor named Dave Yarwood. A farm boy from Washington State, Dave loved the outdoors and was anxious to join the expedition to reach the Nhambiquaras.
The next month, Bruce, Dave, and colleague Jim Ostewig began their hunt. Meeting no success, they returned to Cafetal. August came and they were still no closer to making contact. Then, one day while they were on a turtle egg hunt they ran smack into four naked Indians. Nhambiquaras! The Indians took some gifts and vanished into the jungle.
In September they met up with eight Nhambiquaras. These Indians came right up and gave them bear hugs. Then they began touching the missionaries all over.
Other encounters followed. Occasionally, the Indians indulged in painful horseplay. On one occasion, one of the Nhambiquaras seized one of the missionaries around the neck and almost choked the breath out of him.
The dangerous game of hide and seek continued. Sometimes the missionaries were able to eat meals with the Indians. Sometimes they learned a few Nhambiquara words.
After one stay of several days at an outlying camp, Dave suggested that the others go back to Cafetal and stock up on supplies. "I’ll hang around here and keep up the contact," he said. Bruce didn’t want to leave him alone. But Dave insisted.
Bruce was glad to spend a few days with his wife. But he could not get his mind off Dave. He visualized him lying in his bunk reading his Bible. He recalled the time Dave had put his arm around a Nhambiquara and told him in English of God’s love. The Indian put his lips to Dave’s ear after each sentence and whispered back, in precise English, every word Dave told him. The Nhambiquaras were remarkable mimics. The Indian thought it was a joke.
Before Bruce could go back, a riverboat captain stopped to tell him that Dave was dead. Three Brazilian tax collectors looking for rubber hunters had come across Dave’s body. By the description Bruce knew that it really was his friend.
Bruce and Jim went back and found Dave’s remains. The shafts of two arrows trimmed in turkey feathers were sticking out of his back. Two more were in his chest. They buried the body, gathered up the few personal effects, which the Indians had not taken and went back to Cafetal. Dave’s diary told part of the story. December 4, the day before he was killed, nine Nhambiquaras came to see him. He learned some more words. "On the whole ... the atmosphere was friendly," he wrote. "We’ll see what happens tomorrow." That was the last entry.
The shock of Dave’s murder drove Bruce into a deep depression. It was two months before he emerged from what he called his "Dunkirk of the soul" and accepted an invitation from another missionary to help reach the wild Macurapis. They made a contact, then he joined another New Tribes’ man in search for wild Yuquis. These efforts led to some hair-raising incidents, but his faith was renewed and he continued the quest for more lost tribes.
In his book Commandos for Christ (Harper and Row) Bruce Porterfield has expressed the New Tribes Mission’s purpose; It is for us to furrow the ground. It is for others to plant the seed and reap the harvest. And as surely as day follows night, the harvest will come. And it will be rich, the result of all the hard plowing, sowing, and watering that has been done, in tears, heartaches, suffering, and blood....("By Their Blood" by James and Marti Hefley, p.565-567)
Martyrs for Jesus Christ. The story of the Christianity is literally a story of a trail of blood. It begins with the cross of Calvary, moves to Peter and the Apostles and continues to this very day.
What is a martyr? By definition, a martyr is a person who gives his or her life for a cause.
In Acts 6 and 7, we have the story of the very first Christian martyr. His name is Stephen. He began what was to become a very common occurrence for the next 2000 years. In fact, if we were to study the history of the church, we would discover that it is more and more common every year. In fact, there were more people killed for their faith in the 20th century than the combined total of the previous nineteen centuries. And I believe the trend is going to continue. In fact, I believe that if Christ doesn’t come soon, more people will die this century than the last 20 centuries combined.
So this morning, I want us to think about martyrdom. What is a martyr? What are the marks of a martyr.
Not too long ago, a friend asked me if I expected a persecution of the church here in the United States. My answer to her was; “ABSOLUTELY!” You see, I truly believe that what Stephen experienced in Acts 6 and 7, will be common place in this country very soon. We have seen the beginnings of this over the last 30 years or so, as our nation has banned prayer in schools, teaching of the 10 commandments. We have seen the country change the interpretation of the Constitution from the freedom of religion, to the freedom from religion. No longer can the church have a say in public life. In the not too distant future, I believe that we will see the day when Christianity will be an outlaw religion, and soon after that, we will see men and women pay with their very lives for the faith they hold.
Now, I am not a prophet - I don’t claim to be predicting the future. But, I do believe that we can look around us and see the steady decline of morality in our country, and the desire to turn away from faith. Throughout history, this has always led to the persecution of the church and the martyrdom of the faithful.
The question for us today, is "are we prepared for the persecution that Jesus said would come? Will we, like Stephen, be able to take a stand against the enemy who would love to destroy our faith?
Let me ask it this way; "When the crowd has gathered around you, stones in hand, and the look in their eyes reveals their hatred for you, how will you react?"
First of all, we cannot consider dying for Christ until we are willing to live for Christ. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you."
What does that mean? "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends?" Often times, when we hear this passage, we think it says "greater love has no one that this, that one die for his friends." But, that is not what Jesus said. Jesus said that we are to lay down our lives. There is a tremendous difference between laying down our lives for Christ, and dying for Him.
The best way I can think of to demonstrate what I mean is with money.
If a person lives to be 82 years old, he or she lives approximately 30,000 days. If each day were represented by $1.00, this is what a lifetime would look like. (Hold up picture of 3 - $10,000 bills). What I have here is a picture of 3 - $1 0,000 bills.
(Hold up $1.00 dollar bill)
This is a $1.00 bill. Now, I thought about bringing in a stack of paper to demonstrate what 30,000 one dollar bills would look like, until I realized it would take a stack of paper 10 feet tall to represent 30,000 $1.00 bills.
Now, if you this analogy of the money, I think we can understand the meaning of the passage in John 13. You see, sometimes Jesus asks us to go out and spend the $30,000 all at one time. (Hold up picture of 3 - $10,000 bills) This is exactly what He did for Stephen. This is what He asked of David Yarwood in Bolivia. Each of these men were asked by God to put everything down in one dramatic payment. But, let me assure you, this is not the norm. For most of us, God asks us to spend our life one dollar at a time. (Hold up the $1.00 bill) He gives us 30,000 one dollar bills – they are called days – and He asks us to go out and spend them individually.
Believe it or not, you have been called to be a martyr for Jesus Christ. Paul spells it out the best in Romans 12:1-2 when he says; "I urge you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect”.
Our lives are to be living sacrifices. We are to die daily to Christ. In another passage, Paul says that we are to be constantly crucifying ourselves to Christ Jesus.
So many of us say we would be willing to give our lives for our faith, meaning we would be willing to die for our faith - in the fashion of a Stephen -- yet, we seem so unwilling to live for our faith. Again, Christ will most often call us to spend our lives "one dollar at a time."
Call on the needy - spend a dollar
Visit with you neighbor - spend a dollar
Comfort the sick - spend another dollar
Teach a Bible study - another dollar of your life given to God.
And so it goes.
My question here is this; are you as willing to live for Christ as you are willing to die for him? If so, then we must "die daily." Give yourself to Him as a living sacrifice. I think of the words of Jim Elliot, another missionary who gave his life for the gospel; "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."
The first mark of a martyr then is "a person who has died to Christ long before he dies for Christ. " Stephen was just such a person. Long before he ever died for Jesus Christ, he had given Jesus Christ his life. It was his very presence and his faith in Jesus Christ that caused the men from the Synagogue to rise up and argue with him. They were not going to argue with just any ordinary Christian, they chose a man whose life was marked by faith and sacrifice. It was the same quality that the church saw in this man when they selected him as one of the first leaders of the church.
The second mark of a martyr is one who is willing to defend his faith to the death. This is the most obvious meaning of the word martyr. ’This is the picture that is set forth in the book of Acts. Stephen was not only willing to live for Christ, but when necessary - he was willing to die for Christ.
Stephen was picked out, because of his faith. The men of the synagogue knew of him, because he was a man of conviction. He was a leader. He was follower of Jesus Christ. And Stephen was willing to defend his faith, in the face of their persecution So much so, in fact that Luke tells us; "they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking. "
When the group began making accusations toward this man, he was ready, willing and able to come to his own defense. Knowing full well, that this debate could turn ugly in a hurry, Stephen never once sways from his faith in Jesus Christ. Stephen is aware that his defense may lead to his execution, and yet, he is willing to stand before these men and tell them about Jesus Christ.
Let me ask you another question. Do you believe that the eternal soul of another individual is worth your very life? Think about that. Do you truly believe that sharing the gospel with someone else, so that they may come to know Jesus Christ as their personal savior is worth the life of the one who is sharing it? That is a tough question, but, I believe it is. Stephen believed his was. Dave Yarwood believed his was. Bruce Porterfield believed his was. If you believe this, than surely you also believe it also worth one day, or one hour. Surely you also believe it is worth the risk of rejection and mocking.
I find it incredible that we - myself included - are so afraid of "taking the risk" that our friends or coworkers will laugh at us, or mock us, that we are unwilling to share the gospel with them. And yet, at the same time, we proudly declare that we would go to the grave for Jesus Christ. The second mark of a martyr is his/her willingness to share the faith, no matter what the cost - even his or her own life.
In that way, we are to be like Jesus Christ. He came to earth specifically because He believed that each one of us was worth his life. He lived among us for 33 years. The King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the creator of heaven and earth, came to earth and lived among us and then died for our sins, because He felt we were worth it.
If you are here this morning, and you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I want you to think about that. Jesus Christ died on the cross because you were worth it. He knew that there was no way that you could have eternal life based on your own life. He knew that He would have to pay the penalty for your sins. So, he willingly sacrificed his life on your behalf. For you to receive eternal life, you must accept his sacrifice as you would any other gift. You haven’t done anything to earn it, you aren’t so smart, so strong, so popular or so rich that heaven just can’t do without you. But God wants you to be there. Heaven won’t be the same without you. That is why Jesus Christ was willing to die for you.
That is why He was willing to leave heaven, to take on the form of a man. That is why He was willing to live a life of humility and service. That is why he was willing to go to Jerusalem and suffer the beating and the mocking and finally the crucifixion. Because He wants you to be in Paradise with Him.
There is a third mark of a martyr that I want us to see this morning. A martyr has a forgiving spirit. Think about that for a minute - a martyr has a forgiving spirit. Look at Stephen - Act 7:60 "And falling on his knees, he cried out - ’Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ And having said this, he fell asleep.”
I always find it amazing when I read this passage. The men have forced him out of the city. They have lied about him, they have heard his defense, and even though they know the truth of what he says, they pick up large stones and begin to hurl them at him. As he faces his killers, he looks up into heaven and sees Jesus standing at the right hand of his Father. As he sees him, he cries out to his Lord - "Lord forgive them."
Do you find this as amazing as I do. How is it that he can forgive the very men who are murdering him? Do you think it has anything to do with the words that Jesus said from his cross; "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing?" I do. I believe that men and women of faith - men and women who know and love Jesus Christ and are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for him – they have the same Spirit the he had.
I hear the story of the martyrs in Bolivia and I wonder why the friends of these men would return to this area. Not only return, but love these people and witness to them and forgive them for their sins – for the murders. Then I realize, it is the Spirit of God working in and through them, just as he worked in and through Stephen and just as he will work in and through me if I allow Him to.
Let’s go back to the first two marks of a martyr for a moment. What were they?
The first mark of a martyr is a person who has died to Christ long before he dies for Christ.
The second mark of a martyr is a person who willingly defends his faith to the end.
Now, think about the third mark – the Spirit of forgiveness. As men and women who have given ourselves to God as living sacrifices, shouldn’t we also have the third mark of a martyr? Shouldn’t we have the Spirit of forgiveness?
You give your life to Christ one dollar (one day) at a time. But, there seems to be little or no recognition. No one seems to appreciate your efforts. Ask yourself - why do I do it? Is it for the recognition, or is it for the glory of God? If it is the latter, then we must be able to forgive and move on.
Jesus said to store up your treasures in heaven, where moth and thieves will not be able to destroy it. If we give ourselves to God one dollar - one day at a time, then our treasure chest in heaven will be filled with glorious rewards. It is like an eternal savings account. The question is, how large is my account?
I close this morning by asking you to evaluate your own account. Do you have the marks of a martyr?
1. Have you died to Christ? Have you given him your very life? Are you willing to spend it for his glory one dollar at a time as easily as you are willing to give it all at once?
2. Are you willing to give your life to the spread of the gospel? That doesn’t mean that you have to go to the jungles of Africa or Bolivia as a missionary - but are you ready to take the risk to share you faith with others?
3. Are you willing to forgive rejection, ridicule and persecution? These are the marks of a martyr. They were the marks that set Stephen apart. They are the marks that set Dave Yarwood and Bruce Porterfield apart. In fact, they are the marks that the Lord Jesus Christ himself displayed on Calvary. It is my belief that they are the marks of a true disciple. May it be so in each of our lives.
