I Have Converted Them to Truth

King Astyages raged at him. “You have perverted my own brother, my wife, and some of my children! You have disturbed the worship of our gods! The priests of Ashtaroth cry for your blood! If you do not stop preaching this Jesus and sacrifice to our gods, you shall die a most painful death!”

    After the apostles separated, Bartholomew traveled with the gospel through Lyconia, Syria, upper Asia, and into India. He then went on to the Armenian capital of Albana, where many accepted Christ. Here, Bartholomew was brought before the king for judgment.
   

“I have not perverted them,” Bartholomew replied, “but converted them to the truth. I shall not sacrifice to your false gods. I have only preached the worship of the one true God, and I would rather seal this testimony with my own blood than suffer the least shipwreck of my faith or conscience!”

    The king was incensed. In order to silence Bartholomew, he ordered him beaten with rods and tortured. Still Bartholomew urged others to hold to the truth. Then he was hung upside down on a cross and flayed alive with knives. Still he called all to come to the one true God and his Son, Jesus Christ. Finally, the king ordered Bartholomew’s head cut off with an axe, silencing his cry but preserving his witness and sealing his fate in Jesus Christ.

Perhaps some who hear the stories of the martyrs read about their lives with a sense of defeat. After all, like Bartholomew, they died in the end at the hand of their enemies. Jesus was not spared a similar conclusion. Those who refute his resurrection think of him as a wonderful teacher whose ministry was tragically cut short by his premature death. Is death really a sign of Satan’s victory? Not in Jesus’ case. In fact, Jesus’ death was God’s ultimate victory over sin. In the case of Christian martyrs, the testimony and witness provided through their courageous deaths brought many more to faith than their lives ever could. It is possible to honor God with your death as well as your life.