Faith, Hope, Love, and Martyrdom

"And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13

"And they overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." -Revelation 12:11

A few weeks ago I was thinking about faith, hope, and love. All three are mentioned in Colossians 1:4-5, which got me thinking about 1 Cor. 13:13 and why it is that Paul says that love is greater than faith and hope. We as Christians are saved by faith and we live by faith; we'll be saved if we're not moved away from the hope of the Gospel which we heard (Col. 1:23); and we glorify God and fulfill the whole Law by loving God and loving our neighbor as our self. How can you rank these three things, Paul?

Then it occurred to me that One Day our faith will become sight and our hope will become experience, but love will only increase for eternity. (I can't imagine that our love for God will remain static while we spend an eternity learning more of His breathtaking beauty and seeing more of the glories of the Gospel of Jesus by which we were saved.) That was a few weeks ago. Fast forward to last night.

Actually, rewind to 1557 in Colchester, England. That's the setting of one short account of Christian martyrdom among several I read last night in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. I love these people. So many of them died singing hymns of praise to Jesus, or preaching the Gospel to the crowd who gathered to watch the "heretic" burn, or praying joyfully to God while lifting fiery hands toward heaven, asking Him to save their murderers. Many kissed the stake at which they would soon burn, and were overwhelmed with joy, speaking of their impending deaths as their "marriage" to Christ.

Enter Elizabeth Folkes, one of six Protestant "heretics" who that day demonstrated the earth-shattering power of the Gospel of the infinitely satisfying Christ--by fire. This is how He glorified Himself in her joyful, horrible, beautiful death:

"But the wicked there attending would not suffer her to give [her petticoat to her mother, who had come and kissed her at the stake, and exhorted her to be strong in the Lord]. Therefore, taking the said petticoat in her hand, she threw it away from her, saying 'Farewell, all the world! farewell Faith! farewell Hope!' and so taking the stake in her arms, said, 'Welcome love!'

"...When all the six were also nailed likewise at their stakes, and the fire about them, they clapped their hands for joy in the fire, that the standers-by, which were, by estimation, thousands, cried 'The Lord strengthen them; the Lord comfort them; the Lord pour His mercies upon them;' with such words, as was wonderful to hear."

Unshakable Faith in the crucified and risen Messiah. Unquenchable Hope in the glories to come. Unashamed Love for Jesus that defies any earthly explanation. This is the power of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"...In nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." -Philippians 1:20-21