"So great a cloud of witnesses..." (from Hebrews 12:1)

This is an excerpt taken from "The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs".

Graham and Gladys Staines were Australian missionaries at the Mayurbhanj Leprosy Mission in Mayurbhanj, India, southwest of Calcutta. The mission has two centers, one for treatment and one for rehabilitation. The facilities include dormitories for men and women, an occupational training center, and a chapel. About 80 patients normally live at the Mission, and there is a continuous flow of out-patients. The Staines worked in the treatment center. They lived in an old house within the Mission compound with their three children, Esther (14), Philip (11), and Timothy (7).
In January (1999), Graham took his two sons with him on an annual trip to a leprosy hospital that he was in charge of in Manoharpur, a tin village nestled in the remote hills of Keonjhar, about 155 miles north of the Orissa state capital of Bhubaneswar. Orissa had the highest incidences of attacks against Christian churches in India-some 60 attacks between 1986 and 1998. Graham was aware of this, and also that some of te tension had found in way to Manoharpur, but he wasn't worried. He had decided a long time before to follow Christ wherever He led him to minister to lepers, and Manoharpur was one of the places.
There is no electricity or running water in the village of Manoharpur, and no modern conveniences. At night, Graham and his two sons slept in the back of their Willys station wagon, which had more than enough room for them, and comfortable bedding, which they carried on their trips to these remote areas.
The boys always enjoyed the trips with their father, and he enjoyed having them along. They had already developed a love for these simple people and the lepers that their parents treated. Graham hoped that someday they would follow in his footsteps and join their parents in this work to which they had devoted their lives. India was now his and Gladys' home and always would be. They loved the people of India and could not imagine living and working anywhere else.
God had brought them here, and God poured His love through them as they ministered to the lepers and treated their sores. One former leper said about the Staines: "Our world was darkness. We always faced death. None of the religious leaders bothered to give us even one meal. When we begged for alms, they would throw stones at us and chase us away. We were untouchables. These religious leaders used to tell us that we deserved leprosy because of our sins in our previous birth-because of our karma. And we were left to die in the jungles all alone, like worms. But then came Staines Dada and his friends. They stretched forth their hands of mercy to us and to the Leprosy Home. There we saw the love of God.
Dada and his wife would personally wash our sores and dress the wounds with medicines and when we were cured, they would teach us some skills, and give jobs to us...Philip and Timothy, what loving kids, they used to come and play with us lepers, the outcasts of society."
At this point, the young woman, Sarida, was overcome with grief and unable to speak any longer.
On this particular night in Manoharpur, January 23, Graham fixed the bed in their station wagon not long after dark and they all climbed in to settle down for the night. It had been a hard day, and they were all tired-the boys more from running around the village and playing with the other children than from work, though they always willingly helped their father when he needed them. Before they went to sleep, they did what they always did on these trips, talked about Jesus for a while, and then each said a prayer. Graham loved to hear his boys pray, especially Timothy who still prayed in the innocence and simplicity of a young child.
Not far from their station wagon, about 300 yards, a group of young men were playing drums and enjoying a traditional Indian dance. The rhythmic beat of the drums helped Graham and his two sons fall asleep quickly and soundly. Tomorrow was going to be another busy day.
But there wouldn't be any tomorrow for them.
At about 11p.m. on January 22, a group of radical Hindus led by a man named Dara Singh left Jamadwar and headed for Manoharpur. Singh was no stranger to police, having been arrested several times for initiating violence.
At about 12:20 a.m. on January 23, Singh and his mob arrived at Manoharpur. They approached throuth the fields, armed with axes and tridents (three-pronged spears). They had just one pre-determined target, the Staines station wagon where Graham and his two sons slept. As they got near the vehicle, they started screaming as loud as they could.
Singh struck first, swinging his axe at the tires and slashing them open so the vehicle could not move. The others broke open the windows and struck at the Staines, beating all three unmercifully with their fists and clubs. Graham received the worst beating as he tried to shelter the children with his body. After beating all three nearly unconscious, the raging mob then repeatedly stabbed them-thrusting their tridents through the broken windows time and again in a wild frenzy.
Then Singh piled straw under the vehicle and set it on fire. In seconds, the station wagon was engulfed in flames. Through the broken windows Graham could be seen holding his two young sons close to him. Anyone who knew him was certain that the one name he would be speaking over and over as the flames consumed them was Jesus.
The murderers watched as the three in the vehicle were roasted alive. Someone ran up with a bucket of water to try to douse the flames and was chased away. Dr. Subhankar Ghosh, a close friend of Graham remembers vividly ever moment of that terrible night.
"We had dinner with the Staines around 9 p.m., and they went to sleep in their station wagon, parked near the church, at about 9:45. I was sleeping in one of the huts, only about 300 feet from the church. [Just after] midnight, we were woken up by some strange shouts and screams, and I peeped through the side window. I couldn't believe what I saw. I heard shouts, screams, beatings, breaking of doors. There were 50-60 people with burning torches in their hands....shouting ' beat, beat' around the station wagon.
Soon they started smashing the windows of the jeep with bars and sticks. The frenzied mob blocked Graham from escaping with his children. They were brutally beaten. Then suddenly I saw the jeep in flames. I knew my dear friends would be burned to ashes. The attackers had already blocked the doors of the village huts so that no one could get out to help the Staines. A few who did get out and questioned the mob were threatened [with beatings and burning themselves].
The villagers said the attackers were shouting 'Victory, Dara Singh.' The attackers also burned another jeep, parked nearby, and its driver was beaten and chased away. After an hour, the furious militants fled the scene.
[We freed our doors and raced outside.] We couldn't believe what we saw. We were numbed. Graham was an embodiment of Christian love and compassion. And his children-tender, cheerful, who used to play with the lepers and their children! Is there no limit to man's wickedness?"
Hasda, the driver of the station wagon and a coworker with the Staines for over 20 years, gave his report of the burning.
"I was woken up by the screams of some people. There were about 50-60 men around the jeep where Saibo and children were sleeping. They were smashing the vehicle with staves and stones. Some carried tridents also. Then I saw somebody putting a bundle of straw under the vehicle and setting it on fire. I brought water and tried to put out the fire, but some of them caught me and beat me hard and chased me away.
I ran to Murmu's hut and informed him, and he ran to call the village chief. When I returned to the vehicle, what I saw was most tragic. Fire had devoured the two vehicles, and my Saibo and little Philip and Tim [were] turned to ashes. I am sorry I couldn't do anything to save my Saibo and the little ones. My parents were cured lepers and inhabitants of Rajabasa rehabilitation center. I was born there. The Staines treated me like their son. Philip and Tim used to play with my children [and] take them on their cycles. The future of the mission is [now] in God's hands. Our Lord is able."
Also at Manoharpur that night was Gilbert Venz, a visiting friend of the Staines from Austrailia, who had accompanied Graham to the village. He also remembers vividly what happened.
"The village had turned in for the night, but at about 12:30 midnight, what seemed like a large group of men began raising a commotion in the street outside. They were screaming, 'Don't come out, we will kill you.'
I was indoors and we found that the door had been locked from outside. Graham and the kids were sleeping in the jeep."
Because he was trapped inside, Venz didn't know the station wagon had been set on fire. But he kept hearing the terrifying noise of the mob. Later, as he heard the shouting subside, someone freed the door and he rushed out and ran towards the station wagon. He found only a burned out, smoking, shell-and three bodies charred beyond recognition, locked in a tight embrace. In life and in the agony of their deaths, Graham and his sons had been inseparable.
A number who fled the raging mob said they saw a wide beam of bright light shining down on the burning station wagon. "I do believe," said Gladys Staines, "that my husband and children were specially strengthened by my Lord and the angelic hosts from heaven."

Asked if she would now leave India and their work with the lepers, she replied, "Never. My husband and our children have sacrificed their lives for this nation. India is my home. I am happy to be here. I hope to die here and be buried along with them."

"Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."-2 Timothy 3:12

A Brief Study of "Advice to Young Converts" by Jonathan Edwards: Part 2

This is the second post in a series inspired by the short book, "Advice to a Young Convert" by Jonathan Edwards. May God be glorified in it, and may his people, the church, grow and be edified by it, and most of all, may God's Holy Spirit convict men's hearts of their sin and grant them repentance and faith in His blessed Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

This is a letter written during the Great Awakening by Jonathan Edwards to a young woman named Deborah Hathaway, and was later published as a small book called: "Advice to Young Converts".

“2. Don't slack off seeking, striving, and praying for the very same things that we exhort unconverted persons to strive for, and a degree of which you have had in conversion. Thus pray that your eyes may be opened, that you may receive your sight, that you may know your self and be brought to God's feet, and that you may see the glory of God and Christ, may be raised from the dead, and have the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart. Those that have most of these things still need to pray for them; for there is so much blindness and hardness and pride and death remaining that they still need to have that work of God upon them, further to enlighten and enliven them. This will be a further bringing out of darkness into God's marvelous light, and a kind of new conversion and resurrection from the dead. There are few requests that are not only proper for a natural person, but that in some sense are also proper for the godly.”

There are some today who would tell you that questioning your salvation isn’t a good idea, and that one can be a “carnal Christian”, meaning that our life can be just as sinful as ever without any sign of changing, and yet we must be saved, because we believe and we chose Christ. Is this true? Not according to Jonathan Edwards. He is encouraging new and old believers to continually keep in remembrance how sinful they are by nature and how they have no hope for heaven without Christ’s atoning sacrifice. 

He also says that we still have sinful desires and fleshly pride within in us even after we have been converted to Christ, and that we must always be on guard and aware of them, and to fight against them. Does the Bible support what he is saying? Is it okay or even normal for a Christian to question their salvation?

First, if we didn’t doubt we wouldn’t be human. And we need not look further than the Psalms to see that doubts and feelings of abandonment are not only normal, but beneficial. Just think of all the comfort that has been given through such Psalms.

“Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. 

Lord hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.

If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. 

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.

And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”-Psalm 130

Had the Psalmists never doubted, never feared, never shared the reality of their weakness, how could we ever have any assurance for ourselves? These and many other accounts in the Bible help us to know that our nature cannot be trusted. And we know that God sees and looks at the intents of the heart. Let us examine what the Bible, what God, says about our hearts.

“And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”-Genesis 6:5

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”-1 Samuel 16:7

“I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness.”-1 Chronicles 29:17a

“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.”-Psalm 24:4-5

“Shall not God search this out? for he knoweth the secrets of the heart.”-Psalm 44:21

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”-Psalm 139:23-24

“So as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:”-Proverbs 23:7a

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”-Jeremiah 17:9

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.”-Matthew 5:8

“For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also.”-Matthew 6:21

“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”-Matthew 12:34

“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:”-Matthew 15:19

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.”-Mark 10:5

“A good man out of a the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”-Luke 6:45

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”-Romans 10:10

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”-Hebrews 4:12-13

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from a evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)”-Hebrews 10:22-23

“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses; law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilt ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better an an everlasting substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that after ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”-Hebrews 10: 26-39

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”-1John 2:19

“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.”-1 John 2:28-29

“Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen  him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”-1 John 3:6-10

“And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”-1John 3:19-24

“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, an dye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come form the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.”-Luke 13:24-30

Our heart is sinful by nature and we only desire to do what is wrong apart from God’s sustaining grace. If you aren’t in Christ then you have no hope of eternal life or of being freed from the power of sin that keeps you enslaved. In Christ, we still sin, but God has taken away the desire to do evil and keeps us from many temptations and sins by His sovereign grace and power out of love for us. 

In Christ, our hardened and filthy hearts are replaced with a new heart with new desires. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within ou, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them.”-Ezekiel 36:26-27.

We have no good/righteousness in us that God should forgive us and make us His own, but Christ died in our place. He died that He might take our unrighteousness and we might stand in His righteousness just before God. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”-2 Corinthians 5:21. “And be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”-Philippians 3:9. 

The fact that you know how sinful you are is a sign that the Holy Spirit is working in you, for that knowledge can only come from God. 

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”-Titus 3:3-7.

Doubts are good for our spiritual growth, they make us look for assurance, and the only place to look for assurance is in God’s Word through prayer and diligent study over it. So, go ahead, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”-2 Corinthians 13:5

Be sure that you are trusting your salvation being dependent upon Christ’s righteousness and His penal substitutionary atonement (that He took your punishment and thereby cleared you of the charges, satisfying justice). Do not trust in your goodness to take you to heaven, or your “decision for Christ”, or your church membership, or your involvement in youth group, or your knowledge of the Bible. And by no means trust in an idol of your own making: i.e. I believe God is too loving and kind to send His own creation to hell forever. If you do not believe in the God of the Bible as He is clearly and literally presented there, you have no hope for heaven. If you do not understand Jesus rightly that He is fully God and fully man, died on the cross to take our place, rose from the dead, and is seated at the right hand of God with all power being given to him. (To better understand who Jesus really is read Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and 1 & 2 John.) 

Beloved, do not put off seeking an assurance of your faith. It’s more than a possibility for believers; it’s a promise to us. 

“Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of is grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. I whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: The in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.”-Ephesians 1:3-12