Remembering Staines - Another Thomas!

The Australian medical missionary Mr. Graham Staines (1941-1999) and his two sons were burnt alive in the tribal State of Orissa, in 1999.

 Though the killing of the Staines has left a stain on Indian soil, they are grains of wheat which are fallen on the ground to give plentiful harvest. Apostle Thomas was martyred in Chennai.

The Church in India is strongest in this city!

Thomas Brooks (1608-1680) penned,

 "Divine presence made the martyrs as willing to die as to dine!"

God in answer to the prayer of the Church sent an angel into the prison chamber to release Peter.

What our prayers can do for the persecuted at critical hours and perilous situations cannot be underestimated. When challenged before martyrdom, Bishop Polycarp (70-160) replied,

"Eighty-six years I've served Christ and He never did me any injury. How then can I blaspheme my King and Saviour?"

Henry Vos shamed his persecutors with the words,

"If I had twin heads, they should all be off for Christ!"

Tahir Iqbal, a Muslim convert, before he died in a Pakistani prison in 1993, declared,

"I'll kiss the rope, but I'll never deny my faith!"

 Every Christian must read Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

The martyrs shook the powers of darkness with the irresistible power of weakness. How much the persecuted need our prayers!

It's repeatedly observed in mission fields that the malignant opponents get powerfully converted and become mighty exponents of the Bible.

This is what our prayers for the persecutors do.

Stephen's prayer deeply impacted the young man Saul.

 When this persecutor of Christians became a preacher of the gospel, people said in amazement,

 "Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this Name in Jerusalem?" (Acts 9:21; 22:19,20).

The last prayer of William Tyndale (1494-1536), the Reformer and Bible Translator, before he was strangled and burnt, was,

"Lord, open the eyes of the King of England!"

The Lord answered his prayer, and the King authorized a Bible translation.

Who has not heard of the King James Version?

Any attack on the Church must primarily be discerned as the direct activity of wicked spirits. Spiritual powers cannot be combated by numerical or physical strength. Fasting prayers in secret are more effective than protest fasts in public.

 Restudying of the Book of Acts will keep us in the right perspective.

---

Lord's willing Lamb - Jesus Christ

When we celebrate Palm Sunday
We are celebrating a great event. As we see Jesus ride into Jerusalem on a donkey and allow the people to praise Him as king, there are many things we can learn. But there is one aspect that is fascinating as it deals with Passover. 

  
We know that Passover was only four days away which made the day of the Triumphal Entry the tenth day of the month. We can see the significance of this when we read...Exodus 12:3, 5-6, which says,

Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house:
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: you shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
And you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

As Jesus was riding in and the people were crying “Hosanna in the highest,”
Unknown to them they were selecting the paschal lamb for sacrifice; the one and only sacrifice that can take away sin and cause death to pass over us.

Praise God for His willing Lamb.