Only this time, it was the Sheikh Arbow himself. He casually and politely asked if he could check out something in the Bible. Mariam innocently complied with his request, and went into a back room to get a Bible for him to see. It was then he made clear his true mission—he demanded that she retrieve all six of her Bibles. He then fired three shots, and she was dead—instantly! As gruesome and senseless as it all may sound, let me ask you a question. In that very moment, Mariam stood at the very throne of Jesus in Heaven—do you think she was any less thankful than compared to the day before when she had the opportunity to witness for Jesus? I don't think so!
It was the Apostle John that made clear this reality in the opening lines of his gospel—”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1) A few verses later, he shifts his focus to the forerunner of Christ—”There was a man sent from God, whose name was John (the Baptist). The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.” (vss. 6-8) As you probably know, John the Baptist would later be beheaded for standing on the Word of God—not just a book, but a living presence of Light within. How is that a witness to us? Remember—contrary to popular opinion, there aren't two groups of people—the persecuted church and those who pray for them. The Bible tells us clearly--”Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3:12) It is not just for some out there, and the rest of us can take it easy. If you truly bear witness to Jesus Christ, some will not like it!
Think about this—this “witness” is a favorite term for Jesus and His true, overcoming Church. John uses it 65 times in his gospel account and letters, and he uses it 19 times in the Book of Revelation. It was prophesied by Isaiah some 700 years before Jesus—”Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.” (55:4) And when He appeared among the people, Jesus confessed that He came into the world to “...bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18:37) In His final message to the churches, He would say of Himself that He was, “the Amen, the faithful and true witness.” (Rev. 3:14) He said this as a rebuke to the church of Laodicea, which had miserably failed to be a good witness for the Savior they had excluded from their lives and worship. In fact, He specifically told them, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” (vss. 15-16) He says the same to much of the so-called church today—those that span the globe for foolish and false signs and wonders; those that try to lure the crowds with entertainment, activity, and prosperity; those that refuse to tell the truth about sin and sinners because it might offend somebody, and even meet with persecution. They don't realize it, but it's a very hard brick wall at the end of a very dead-end road.
Richard Wurmbrand, a Romanian pastor and the founder of The Voice of the Martyrs, was witnessing to the invading Russian soldiers at their barracks—all under the pretense of selling watches. Raised on decades of godless communism, they were hungry for the Word of God. One soldier even offered to be the lookout for officers as Richard witnessed to the men. When one was spotted, he would signal him to switch to the topic of watches. As new soldiers arrived to the barracks on trains, Wurmbrand and others would throw small Bibles—the Bread of Life—through the passing open windows to the starving atheists. Arrested for his Christian beliefs and activities, Richard Wurmbrand spent 14 years of torture and very harsh conditions in a communist prison. His favorite story from that time was about how kind the soldiers were—to him, the iron shackles and chains provided them with musical instruments to play as they sang praises to Jesus—this was kindness! In the end, hundreds were saved by the Christian witness! How do you choose to see it? He told another story about a sugar cube. He and the other prisoners lived on small rations of potato peel soup and stale bread. One day, one of them got his hands on a sparkling white sugar cube. No, he didn't gobble it down—he passed it on to someone more frail than he. Through the ensuing weeks, the sugar cube went from prisoner to prisoner—from cell to cell—never to be consumed. Rev. Wurmbrand said he believed the cube was passed along for decades! What do you believe?
It's a wide-open window of witness! In India, in the last five years, more Christians have been beaten or killed, and more houses and churches burned, than in all other countries of the world combined. Why the persecution? The Hindus are frantically trying to stop the spread of revival in their land—thousands of Dalits, the so-called “untouchable” poor class, are getting saved, and they are telling others about Jesus. Journalist Li Ying is 8 years into a 15 year sentence for her role in publishing a Christian magazine in China. She is not allowed to have a Bible, and is forced to work 15 hours a day—and that is in-between the severe beatings. Shafia, a young Christian woman in Pakistan, was kidnapped and locked in a small room. Her assailant raped and beat her every night, trying to force her to accept Islam. Her only peace came in the midst of it as she repeated the Psalms she had memorized. With all of this, and much more—including the murder of her own brother, Rafi—she declares, “I have forgiven those who persecuted me.” It's all in the way you choose to see life, isn't it?
Picture Colombia, South America. One day, the bus Alex and other Christians were on was stopped by FARC terrorists, and all aboard were ordered off and tied up—men, women, and children. The bus was then set on fire, and everyone was machine-gunned to death. To really show his hatred, the leader sliced a machete across the face of Alex, trying to take off his head. Leaving all for dead, the terrorists didn't know that one man had lived—Alex! Much later, the blind survivor went to a local prison to witness to the Cross, and guess who got saved? That's right—a man named Ishmael, the terrorist leader. In fact, the two men now witness together of God's forgiveness and life-changing Word. It is incredible what God can do if we will just have His vision of things, and see ALL things through the wide-open window of His Witness!
