Suffering, Martyrdom, and Rewards in Heaven1

 By Al Baker - Posted at Forget None Of His Benefits:

'But before all these things, they will lay hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.' -Luke 21:12,13

I met Joseph Tson and his dear wife, Elizabeth in October, 2017 in Wittenberg, Germany as we celebrated the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-five Thesis to the Castle Church door there in Wittenberg. We were using this historic occasion as an opportunity to discuss with other believers important theological documents for the evangelical world. I had known about Joseph Tson for many years but was so pleased to meet him and find out more about his amazing life in Communist Romania. While a young man, Joseph remembered how the belief in the Romanian church that God does not want His people to suffer corrupted the church. He sadly said that he also once joined the large crowds which cried out in the streets, “Glory to Stalin.” He and other believers like him were governed by self-preservation and therefore failed to speak out against injustice, tyranny, and the idolatry of turning men into gods.

Tson came to faith in Christ at a young age through the work of the local, small Baptist church. By 1968 he was able to attend theological college at Oxford. When he told friends at Oxford that God wanted him to return to his country, they told him he was crazy, that the authorities would kill him. He said that he must go. God had told him so. Upon his return to Romania he took over a small Baptist church which his friend had pastored. In four years Joseph baptized 850 new converts. A revival was in full swing. People who had been atheists for years were coming in huge numbers to hear the gospel of grace. The authorities began to follow him and harass him. He was told repeatedly that he must stop preaching, but he kept going. He was brought in for interrogation on several occasions by the secret police of Nicolae Ceausescu, the communist leader of Romania. Once while being interrogated for several hours by three security men, the leader sent the two others out of the room (so there would be no witnesses) and beat Joseph with his fists.

Continue here.