Maybe you need to know this like I needed to know it today… Evil never goes unchecked. There will be a reckoning for all the beheaded saints. There will be a day of righteous judgment, and no one ever gets away with anything. All the deeds done in the dead  of night will be brought into the day. The darkness cannot hide from the One clothed in unapproachable light. There is a Day coming, and it seems to hasten on its way.

Masked men may attempt to storm the world inciting fear, but they are not masked before our God. They are known by God. I pray that the strong Gospel that is already bearing fruit in the earth may accomplish the radical salvation of some of them. It is not too much to ask… Saul, the Apostle Paul before he became such, would have been standing by giving hearty approval of the death of the saints, but God saved him. God saves murderers. God saves people who rage against His saints, but if they won’t take the knee on this earth and bow to Him there is a Day appointed for judgment, and they will not escape it. I hope this Gospel that saved me, might save some of them.

And all the saints, let us pray, continuously pray, for the families bereaved of their sons, their husbands, their fathers in such horrific fashion. There is hardly a deeper sorrow in my soul than for the families of these men, but we mourn with hope. We weep with those who weep awaiting our victory. As our 21 brothers have joined the saints under the throne of God who were also beheaded, who with us await that Day.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given ea white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Revelation 6:9-11

There is sorrow in my heart also, perhaps more sorrow, for the saints on the free beautiful green soil of America whose lights appear unlit when held up to such brilliantly pure testimony. It doesn’t have to be that way. If only we could take hold of truth, to live is Christ and to die is gain. For we know not how these 21 men came to faith Christ, but we do know the testimony of their love for Him, even unto death. And here we, the saints, in America too often use our freedom to do our own will rather than our Father’s. Playing about with the idolatrous follies of this land instead of aligning our hearts with Jesus Christ. I think about when Peter said…

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-11

With a sober-mind I think will our entrance into the eternal kingdom be RICHLY provided. In Jesus Christ, our entrance is undoubtedly free and grace, but are our lives rich toward God… that’s another way to put it? I consider Stephen in the book of Acts and His bold declaration of faith. I think about how the heavens opened up as He testified of Jesus just before His death. I remember how He saw Jesus standing there awaiting Him. That is a mighty rich entrance. And we are not all destined for martyrdom, but all the saints are meant to carry our cross and to die to ourselves endlessly. Do we do it? Do we live like this… like the 21? Even if martyrdom isn’t our end, I think there is a way to live that honors God, and I think there is way to live that grieves Him.

As the enemy’s grip on this earth seems to tighten, it is only a precursor to all of it slipping right through His fingers. He has no hold on this earth that will remain. The Lord, the Mighty One, the God of all the earth will see him and all this evil undone. He will not long survive. The Gospel sees to it that this serpent’s head is crushed and caged forevermore.

So, since this present darkness is indeed passing away, let us live for that which is really life. May we take hold of the eternal now and let Him fully possess us, heart and mind… There is way to be rich that has not a thing to do with money, and it is of greater value than any dollar amount you could imagine… to be rich toward God that is what I want. To believe deeply like the 21 that’s what I want. If you agree, let us seek Him together.