Known of God, loved by God, alive in God:
Thy Martyrs, O Lord, in their courageous contest for Thee received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since they possessed Thy strength, they cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption.
Thy martyrs
Martyrs make their deaths about Him and Jesus never forgets His beloved. Their cause is now His cause. Their pain is now His pain. Their cries for justice are now His cries before Father God. Martyrs have one cry. ..
O Lord
Omnipotent God is patient with His plans. Omnipotent God takes the billions of variables and makes what is best: a calculus that defies facile explanation. The martyrs sided with His just plan and now stand behind the Lord of History. To short-lived men, His Sovereign will unfolds slowly, but He acts for eternity and when His will is revealed and His martyrs vindicated, then that victory will be so deep rooted, it will stand for eternity.
Evil men fight temporal wars while martyrs fight spiritual battles . . .
in their courageous contest for Thee
ISIS was not in control: the martyrs were free in the single place freedom matters- the soul. They chose Jesus and love liberated them to Paradise. The killers chose hate and are bound, slaves to sin. The martyrs conquered the world, their own flesh, and the devils and so . . .
received as the prize crowns of incorruption and life from Thee
Agony and then joy. Death and then life. ISIS hate and then Jesus.
A martyr’s next waking thought is Jesus . . .
our immortal God.
Martyrs are always running out of time and into eternity. These martyrs lost a life they could not keep to gain immortality they cannot lose. How could they do it? Not by might, they were physically outmatched, not by power, they had no guns, but they were inevitable victors. . .
For since they possessed Thy strength
Martyrs begin like the rest of us: imperfect and broken. Life is no easier for them than for us. Their very relatives may not recognize the courage that they suddenly find because it is not their strength. The Holy Spirit they did not deny lived quietly in them only to burst forth in courage when they needed courage. These twenty-one fallible men gained the manliness of God and so . .
they cast down the tyrants
ISIS is impotent before King Jesus and the blood of His martyrs. Human followers are dupes of devils and the devils are doomed.
Killers did not know what they were doing, while the martyrs now see God.
Pray the killers receive justice in this life and mercy in the world to come.
Evil is defeated, is being defeated, and will be defeated by Love. Martyrs are liberated . . .
and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption.
Damn the devils. Praise the martyrs example.
The demons wriggle and gasp against the end. They presume to touch the beloved of the Lord God Almighty and will find eternal damnation their reward.
The martyrs bow and gasp at the end. They humble themselves and so pass into eternal bliss as their reward.
I see their example, it washes over my soul, and I know the mercy of God. Oh, sweet Jesus.
Amen.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In